


Experiment Result (No Regrets)

by whenyoudesertme (phrenk)



Category: Arashi (Band), Japanese Actor RPF, Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-09-26
Packaged: 2018-02-19 23:07:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 34,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2406242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phrenk/pseuds/whenyoudesertme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aiba's happy with his life working in a convenience store and living with his best friend, Nino.  It's not without baggage, but he wouldn't trade it for anything.  Then he meets Jun and falls in love, and everything gets complicated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Experiment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thoroughlynerdy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thoroughlynerdy/gifts).



> All combinations of Aiba, Jun, and Nino, with side Aiba/Tabe Mikako and Aiba/Ohno, and mentioned Ohno/Kanjiya Shihori and Sho/Kitagawa Keiko. Some angst (but no infidelity). For kitto-slutparty and thoroughlynerdy. ♥ It got angstier than I expected, but I (still) promise promise promise it all resolves happily. Many thanks to my last-minute beta, , who saved me by taking this job and helped me so much in doing it. ♥ Originally posted [here](http://kitto-slutparty.livejournal.com/23549.html) and re-posted as myself [here](http://whenyoudesertme.livejournal.com/38235.html).

Aiba nearly knocked over his growing display of cup noodles when he received a sharp nudge in the ribs from behind.

There was always the chance it was a particularly horrible customer, so he turned with a smile, but he wasn't surprised when it was Nino.

"Nino, that hurt," he whined, grinning despite himself at how cute Nino always was in his vest. "And hey, aren't you supposed to be at the register?"

Nino shrugged. "If a customer comes in, I will jog over and be all apologetic. Less professional, but more appealing, don't you think?"

Aiba pictured Nino running over with flushed cheeks, saying, _'Welcome!'_ He went back to his cup noodles and said only, "What do you want, anyway."

"To enjoy your company," Nino said promptly. "Though lately, I must say, it's been a bit stale. Do you think the expiration date is soon?"

Aiba laughed, flicking Nino a glance in between careful stacking. "After twenty years, you think you've had enough?"

"No, no," Nino said, falsely soothing. Aiba could practically hear his deadpan expression and had to look over again to see it for real. "After all, we're committed, right? You made me write that contract in the dirt that first day..."

Making a thinking noise, Aiba pretended to consider this. "But did it involve our blood? Because otherwise it's hardly binding."

Nino gasped. "I'm free!"

Aiba laughed as he heard Nino running back toward the register, though the steps slowed after maybe three or four into a lazy stroll.

The door chimed and Nino said cheerily, "Welcome!"

Aiba was still smiling when he set the last cup on the pyramid and headed over to mark down last night's box lunches.

It was mere minutes until the bell gave another _ting_ and Nino was back as if he'd never claimed his freedom.

This time he leaned into Aiba's side and made a discontent noise that had Aiba's arm immediately wrapping around his shoulders. Nino had been wily enough to occupy the space on the side where Aiba wasn't using his arm to work, but it just made Aiba want to touch him more, that Nino would make sure Aiba wouldn't push him off.

Aiba probably wouldn't have pushed him off, just switched the labeler to the other side, but Nino didn't need to know that. Instead he said quietly, "Did that mean customer say a mean thing about your little vest, Nino-chan," and snickered when Nino elbowed him in the side.

"You're wearing the same vest, you dolt."

"It looks different on you," Aiba answered, matter of fact. Aiba's fluorescent green vest fit properly, for one thing, while Nino's was a little too small. Back when they'd started working here together, almost five years ago by now, it'd been a choice between a vest that was far too large and this one, and while Nino had regretted his choice later, their boss then and their boss now agreed that it was too cute to the customers to give it up.

"I'm thirty," Nino said grumpily. "It's not cute anymore."

Aiba set the labeler down on a fried chicken bento and turned to tickle Nino's sides. "Who's the cutest little convenience store clerk around," he crooned, laughing loudly when Nino yelped and swatted at him.

"You're officially expired," Nino declared at last, twisting away from Aiba's fingers. He grabbed the labeler and marked Aiba's forehead before Aiba could run.

Aiba scowled, not particularly liking the turn from their friendship being nearly expired to Nino actually saying it was over, even in jest.

Then he brightened. "Aha, Nino, these stickers only say _half-off._ "

Nino made a face. "Only you would be happy about that."

Aiba waved him off and went back to work, but even though Nino was usually pretty good about following a rhythm of loafing and working without letting the downtime last too long, this time he sidled closer to Aiba again and leaned right back into his side.

Just like the first time, Aiba wrapped an arm around Nino's shoulders. He kept working steadily, knowing that Nino was calmed by routine things, and waited him out.

Finally Nino said, "I think Tabe-chan's boyfriend's going to break up with her."

Aiba stifled his first exclamation, arm tightening around Nino, then said, "Don't they have a big date tonight?"

"Yeah," Nino said sadly. "I think he's going to break up with her, don't you?"

Aiba shook his head hard, like he could make it true with his strong belief. "No. They've been together, what, four years?"

"How many times lately has she talked about him coming home late from work, or breaking their plans, or flirting with other women right in front of her? She should break up with _him_ and be done with it."

"But she loves him," Aiba said stubbornly. "Even though he does sound like a jerk."

"A jerk who's going to break up with her," Nino said. He moved away from Aiba at last, though he walked so slowly it could just barely be called getting back to work. "It sounds like this is the first time he's initiated a date with her in ages, Aiba-chan. He's going to end it."

Aiba frowned and labeled the bento boxes with more vigor than was really prudent. "I hope you're wrong, Nino. Tabe-chan deserves the best."

Nino snorted. "Either way, the best isn't _him._ "

Aiba just frowned harder, worried about their friend. He didn't notice Nino stopping at the end of the aisle until Nino called quietly, "Do you have any free time tonight?"

Tension settled in Aiba's shoulders as he stilled, forgetting to breathe for a second. Then he looked over and made himself smile as normally as he could. "I think so, yeah."

Nino didn't smile but nodded before turning away to return to the counter.

Aiba took a little longer before he could focus on even the basic task he was doing. Those simple words shouldn't have conjured up so many images, so many feelings, but when they were said between him and Nino, it only ever meant one thing.

Taking a deep, shivery breath, Aiba went back to his job and wished it were something more engaging to keep his mind too busy for other thoughts.

*

"I've been waiting," Nino complained. The sheets were pulled up to his chin.

Aiba had seen Nino naked hundreds of times, but his heart still beat fast at the sight of Nino in his bed, presumably not wearing anything. The Nino Aiba dealt with normally would probably be wearing clothes under there just to torment Aiba, but from the very beginning they hadn't been their normal selves when spending their "free time" together.

"Why is it always my bed," Aiba complained back in a pale imitation of his usual Nino-baiting whine. He held the towel tightly closed around his hips and remembered his rules for himself.

He dropped the towel a few steps from the bed and was gratified, as always, at how hungry Nino's eyes were all over Aiba's skin. He wanted to yank the sheets off in a dramatic swoop, but that would be what normal Aiba would do. He didn't think he could bear to hear Nino laugh when they were both naked, not if he wanted to keep his heart intact.

Instead he slipped in beside Nino and settled down on his side to face him. The first part was always awkward without a kiss to signal a beginning, but Aiba was used to it after a few years. He reached for Nino, finding bare skin as expected, and leaned close to press his face against Nino's neck.

It wasn't a kiss or a cuddle, Aiba told himself, just a place to rest his head while he touched Nino's body. Nino had stopped trying for a kiss years ago, at least consciously, but sometimes he forgot. It was better just to avoid the issue.

"It's hot," Nino said, and Aiba shoved the sheets away with pleasure. It was less awkward not to kiss Nino when he could sit up, and now he could look his fill as well as touch.

His hands mapped Nino's shoulders, belly, hips, eyes following along as Nino's skin began to flush. He took one of Nino's hands in his own and brought it to Nino's soft dick, watching intently as Nino's hand curled instinctively around himself. One hand going to his own dick, he used the other to stroke Nino's thighs, being so gentle about it that Nino didn't see it as a demand to spread them. Aiba just liked touching Nino, honestly, and Nino's thighs were one of his favorite places. They were soft, both to stroke and to press against, and they were sensitive, at least to Aiba's hands. His fingers strummed lightly down between them and dragged their way up until his hand nudged even more sensitive places, making Nino's hand stutter in its motion. Aiba smiled, leaving that hand there as his other moved faster on himself in response. Nino picked up his pace as well, his gaze switching off between each of Aiba's hands. Rarely, he looked up into Aiba's eyes.

When Nino was hard, he turned over on the bed with his face toward Aiba. After a nod of understanding, Aiba got the stuff from the bedside table and started preparing Nino as quickly as he could. Nino was impatient about it, though it took a while for it to feel good for him, too, so Aiba was as thorough as he could be without taking his time.

He got lost for a moment in the very idea of taking his time with Nino.

Coming back to himself, he realized Nino was making the sort of noises that meant he was good and ready and would Aiba _hurry up_.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, leaning down unconsciously to kiss Nino's shoulder to show he was back in the present. They both froze, but Aiba's fingers were still inside Nino, opening him up, so the moment passed without comment in favor of more urgent things.

He couldn't help looking at Nino's expression, though, while getting himself ready, and he thought there might be a blush there on top of Nino's usual rosiness during sex. He had his eyes closed, but his lips were parted as he breathed heavily, hair mussed and sticking to his forehead.

Aiba wanted to brush that damp hair away, but he ignored that and got up on his knees behind Nino instead. Nino, helpful as ever when he was getting what he wanted, pushed up onto his hands and knees, and Aiba lined himself up and pushed in slowly.

Nino wasn't loud during sex, at least not sex with Aiba, but he made quiet noises almost constantly. It eroded Aiba's control, made him forget himself, but as long as he kept his mouth shut there wasn't too far wrong he could go. He had Nino's back to him, his dick in Nino's ass; there wasn't a worry that he'd kiss or cuddle. All he had to do was keep fucking Nino, and he wanted to do that forever anyway.

Forever, when it came to fucking Nino, was never as long as Aiba wanted, because Nino was demanding, and Aiba was weak to him in a way that meant he felt like he was on the verge of coming almost immediately. When he was nearly there for real, he reached around to help Nino out so they wouldn't be too far apart. Nino came first this time, choking back a moan, and he slumped down on his elbows to hide his face in his forearms while Aiba sped up even faster, trying not to be so rough that Nino would be feeling it after but knowing he probably already had been. Nino never complained about it, and besides, he was always asking for more, always pushing back against Aiba like there was no way Aiba could possibly fill him up again fast enough.

Nino pushed his head back up and looked over his shoulder at Aiba, and that was it. As Aiba came, he imagined himself coming all over that beloved face, and if he kissed him after, in his mind, he tried to focus on reality instead. It wasn't hard. Sex with Nino was a minefield, the only awkwardness in their twenty year friendship, but it was always _good_ , too.

Afterward, Aiba didn't let himself slump down by Nino like he wanted to. He pulled out carefully and went to leave the room, though he made sure to meet Nino's eyes before he did so. With all their issues, he never, ever wanted Nino to feel like he was being used. Nino gave him a crooked smile, and Aiba went off to clean up in the bathroom.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he remembered Ohno's reaction when he learned about Aiba and Nino and their weird side thing that was grafted on to their everyday bond. Ohno was the only one who Aiba told about the complexities of it, and he'd been distressed when he heard that Aiba wouldn't kiss Nino even though Nino clearly wanted to be kissed. Ohno knew better than just about anyone how much Aiba liked kissing, had been the recipient of Aiba's kisses and many other favors before he'd found Shihori, and his distress had been enough to make Aiba distressed, too, before he remembered just why he didn't kiss Nino.

_"Because after we have sex, he always talks about other people. And those people are always women."_

Ohno had been sympathetic, if a bit puzzled, and Aiba had stopped short of saying his real fear. Kissing, cuddling, sweet words: they all felt like an opening of Aiba's heart, and Aiba couldn't bear the idea of having his heart broken by his best friend.

He splashed water on his face and thought involuntarily of Nino's expression after Aiba had kissed his shoulder.

Then he went back in to hear about whatever female neighbor or coworker or friend Nino was thinking about asking out this time, and also to coax Nino to go back to his own bed so that Aiba wouldn't have to sleep in the wet spot.

*

Aiba was distracted the next morning, busy thinking about several different things. He was worried about his grandpa, who'd broken his arm in a car accident. He was wondering why he was still so affected by sleeping with Nino after years of doing it just about every week. He was scheming up new ways to feed the kangaroos without getting beaten up at the zoo where he volunteered. He'd forgotten entirely about Nino's prediction, indeed about Tabe-chan's big date in the first place.

When he walked into the staff room at work and saw her sitting on the bench with red eyes, the memory came back to him with the force of a freight train.

"Tabe-chan," he said helplessly, starting forward to offer whatever comfort he could. Nino was already by her side with his hand holding hers. His eyes were inquiring and kind despite his fingers drumming against his knee. He was probably late to clock back in after his break but didn't want to stop listening to her.

She seemed to be mid-explanation. "And he said, _'Mikako, I can't help that I'm looking for someone else._ ' That's what he said, that he was looking for someone else, not that we were looking for different things or that it just wasn't working. He just wants someone _else._ "

Her normally calm and cheerful face was blotchy and damp with tears. Even her bangs looked less neat than normal, like she'd been running her hands through her hair and leaving it disheveled.

Nino was murmuring comforting things. Aiba sat beside Mikako and nudged her shoulder with his. "Had a hard night, Tabe-chan?" he asked gently.

"Aiba-chan," she said. Her face crumpled. He turned to hug her and was glad she at least took that comfort, even going so far as to lean in closer and lay her head on his shoulder.

Nino disappeared discreetly to cover them in the store. Aiba held Mikako, feeling her cry even though she held in every noise.

"He was a jerk," he said at last.

Mikako pulled away a bit to look at him, eyes huge and unhappy. "Don't say that."

"Nino said it," Aiba said, a little too fast. As he'd hoped, that won a chuckle from her, but she looked thoughtful afterward.

After a minute, with Aiba's arms still around her, she said, "He kind of was, I guess."

Aiba made a wise expression. "So if I say _Nino_ said it, you actually believe it."

She laughed, choking a little on unspent tears. "No, no," she assured him, but so weakly that it was a setup, he was sure.

He took it, whining, "Tabe-chan, I am very trustworthy! Infinitely more reliable than that weasel Nino, if you must know."

She nodded and leaned back into him. He tightened his arms around her, wishing that wrapping her up in himself meant he could save her this pain.

Her next words came out muffled by his shirt. "It was four years. Four years of my life, gone."

Aiba stroked her back and laid his head on hers. "They're not any more gone than they were yesterday. You still have your apartment, your friends, your family, your job--"

"Two jobs," she said absently.

"Really? How come I didn't know that," Aiba said, distracted.

"We never hung out as much as we could have," Mikako said mournfully. "I spent too much of my time with _him._ "

"We'll hang out now," he promised. "All the time, Tabe-chan."

She perked up in his arms, making him aware for the first time of the way she was pressed up against him. "Really? Tonight?"

Aiba mentally apologized to Sho and Ohno for canceling on their movie plans that night. "Yes, tonight. Let's go out tonight, okay?"

"Yeah," she said, moving away and wiping her face. She looked very determined suddenly. "You and me and Nino, we're going to have so much fun."

He started to agree, then remembered, "Ah, Nino is doing something mysterious tonight, something about his music? It'll just be the two of us, unless you want to invite Kiko or Becky-chan."

"The two of us, that's fine," she said, occupied fixing her hair in the mirror into something that wouldn't have all the customers asking her what was wrong.

Aiba smiled at her, glad to see his self-possessed Tabe-chan back even if it was just a veneer over heartbreak. "It'll be awesome. All we have to do is get through work, and we have plenty of practice at that, right?"

She grinned at him, her dimples flashing. "Let's play the shoes game first, okay?"

He pointed at her and made a face of great resolve. "You won't beat me this time, Tabe-chan!"

*

Forty-five minutes later, Aiba was one customer with white shoes away from Mikako having to do her next greeting as an impression of Bobby Ologun. She was sulking about his lead back by the drink coolers while he wiped down his counter and kept an eye on the door.

It took longer for another customer to come than he could pretend to still be cleaning, so he reluctantly turned away to neaten the stacks of gum next to his register.

Of course, that was when the bell chimed, and in his haste to see the entering person's shoes, Aiba's hand hit the display of gum and sent boxes everywhere.

He apologized hastily, though in fact there was no one near enough to hear since Nino was in the stockroom. He spent a precious couple of minutes rearranging things before he could go in search of the elusive pair of shoes attached to the new customer, whoever they were.

He peered around the aisles until he found the unfamiliar figure, only to see that the man's feet were blocked by his pyramid of cup noodles. He edged closer and tried to peek around to see what color those long-awaited shoes were, but the customer abruptly started walking away.

This time, Aiba learned from his mistake and took a deep, calming breath before starting after his quarry. He didn't want to knock over the noodle display he spent so long on yesterday, after all.

He carefully walked around it and locked eyes onto the new customer's shoes.

They were purple. He was so bewildered and intrigued by this first entry in the purple column that he just stood and stared.

The purple shoes turned toward him. A cool, deep voice said, "Can I help you?"

"Oh!" Aiba said, startled. His eyes shot up to the customer's face. He almost staggered comically, so strong and attractive were those facial features, but the customer didn't look like he'd be amused.

"May _I_ help _you_?" Aiba asked, trying to save the situation. Purple shoes on a ridiculously beautiful person: just wait till he told Tabe-chan! This was the perfect distraction from her break-up blues.

He realized he'd been staring at the man's sensual mouth moving for too long without actually listening to his words. He forced his gaze back up to those intense, long-lashed eyes and constructed a professional smile on his face.

The man's eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "Do you work here or not?"

"I do," Aiba said, nodding vigorously. He tried to think of something else to say. He tried, "What about you?"

The man's eyebrows snapped together. "What _about_ me?"

Aiba's laugh sounded a bit frightening even to his own nerves. "Oh right, you don't work here. I know that because I do, like I said! Um... how may I help you?"

Taking a deep breath and clearly considering whether it was even worth it to ask his question, the man gazed at Aiba.

In turn, Aiba held very still and tried not to smile. He wasn't sure if he was trying to appear professional or just non-threatening, or maybe he hoped that this guy would be even a tenth as struck by attraction as Aiba was himself, but whatever his aim, it worked to keep their interaction going.

"I'm interested in the correct warming time for this package of soba," the customer said at last, looking down at the offending item.

"Is it not written there?" Aiba asked and came over to look. He was glad for the excuse to stand near this intriguing person, though he was careful not to encroach too far and make him uncomfortable.

"There are instructions, but last time I followed them exactly and the noodles were soggy." The man's voice was deeply critical.

Aiba wasn't sure what _he_ was expected to do about faulty instant soba instructions, but he could come up with ideas. "Do you want me to search online for customer feedback? Oh, oh, or we could do an experiment!"

"An experiment."

Definitely not the most encouraging response, but Aiba grinned anyway. "Yes! Here, I'll take this and say that it's damaged and give it to you for free, and then we can go to the microwave in the back and test out a hypothesis--if the original time made the noodles soggy, should we try less time? Lower power?"

The response this time was seeming bewilderment, clearly laced with disapproval. "It's not damaged."

"Yes, but--"

"I'll buy something else. Thank you for your time." That elegant face was very cool now, though there was something interesting about the gleam of the man's eyes. Aiba could almost make out what it was--curiosity? humor?--but the man was turning to leave.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help more," Aiba called, trying not to laugh at the dignified set of those broad shoulders.

A careless twitch of one hand was Aiba's only answer. Somehow instead of dampening Aiba's spirits, it only made him smile more. He was just trying to resign himself to being polite and letting the guy escape with dignity when he heard Mikako's surprised voice.

"Matsujun! This isn't your normal day to come in."

Aiba edged closer and tried to hear the response. His few cautious steps enabled him to hear a friendly-sounding murmur of words in a voice that now sounded almost kind. Aiba wondered if the two of them were close enough that he knew about Tabe-chan's break-up, but he held himself back from snooping from any closer distance.

With a sigh of regret for having scruples about eavesdropping, Aiba went off to pester Nino instead. Later, at least, he could get Mikako to tell him all about the handsome stranger she'd called Matsujun.

*

Keeping an eye on Mikako, who was drunkenly holding court in a booth across the club, Aiba texted Nino again. Nino was claiming not to have time to say what he was doing, but Aiba was arguing, repeatedly, that if he had time to say he didn't have time, he had time to say what he was doing in the first place! All Aiba knew was that Nino had waved a hand dismissively that morning and called it 'a music thing', and then when Aiba had been getting ready for his big night out with Mikako, Nino had left their apartment with his guitar case in hand.

Aiba sipped his drink and watched as Mikako laughed and clapped at something one of her companions said. She was surrounded by handsome men in various stages of inebriation, all of whom were eyeing her like they wanted to take her and her bright eyes and dimpled smile home with them. He snorted into his beer as one leaned in close and actually winked at her. Aiba was under strict instructions not to interfere in this stage of the evening, but for the last stage he was to swoop in and take her to her own home to sleep alone. Earlier they'd laughed and drank and talked about all sorts of things, with a brief interlude for her to cry in the bathroom while he stood guard outside the door, but now they were at a club instead of a cozy watering hole. The brokenhearted Tabe-chan wanted to flirt and be lively, and he was glad to be here to make sure she could without worrying about anything.

It seemed like this time Nino was just going to ignore him. Aiba shrugged to himself, grinning a little at how long he'd gotten Nino to play along in the first place. Nino liked to pretend he was more mature than Aiba, but Aiba knew better than anyone in the whole world that it wasn't the case.

After another glance at Tabe and her admirers, Aiba turned back to the bar to inquire after another drink. Maybe something fruity this time, something that came with a straw and a kick to it. The bartender, a short, curvy, quirky woman Aiba had been low-key wooing for over an hour now, was nowhere in sight, but he did spy a face he was sure he knew.

It only took a second to have Aiba recognizing the face and blurting, "Matsujun!"

The man in question blinked and looked up from his phone. He looked lost, edging toward displeased.

Aiba amended hastily, "Matsujun-san?"

This got a wince, but Aiba thought he also saw a hint of amusement in the tilt of the man's mouth. "Please, call me Jun."

Aiba didn't mistake this as a request to drop the honorific and said at once, "Jun-san. Thank you."

"What are you thanking me for," was the cool response.

Aiba slid closer. "Do you remember me? I helped you with your purchase earlier. My name's--"

"Aiba Masaki, I know, and you certainly did _not_ help me with my purchase." At Aiba's arrested and curious look, Jun rolled his eyes. "You were wearing a name tag."

That didn't mean most people would remember the name hours later when they'd only talked for a minute or two about instant soba, but Aiba knew better than to say so. Greatly encouraged but trying not to be overwhelming about it, Aiba scooted even closer to sit on the stool next to Jun.

One of those expressive eyebrows twitched upward, but otherwise Jun went back to his phone. After a moment he seemed to conclude his business there and put it into his jacket pocket. Aiba finally looked away from his face to find that Jun's jacket was magenta and looked to be leather. At this reminder of his flashy clothing preferences, Aiba sneaked a look at what shoes went with a deep pink leather jacket, but was disappointed to see that they were black.

"I'm here with Tabe-chan," Aiba said, pointing across at her booth.

Jun's eyebrows drew together. "She looks extremely drunk. Why aren't you with her?"

"Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on her," Aiba assured him.

Jun looked unconvinced, and Aiba thought maybe he shouldn't have gulped down the rest of his beer right after implying he was the responsible one.

Then, inspired, he went with it. "Though I'm really fine, I wouldn't turn down your company, if you want to help me make sure she's safe tonight. I'd be happy to buy you a drink!"

As if to bless his effort with excellent timing, a new bartender came over to check on them. Aiba took him in, blinking at the swaying gait and bleary eyes.

Aiba's hope for things to go smoothly disappeared with one wave of the drunk bartender's hand and his gleeful mumble of, "Ah, Matsujun, I see you found a new boytoy. A new boy to toy with, huh?"

Aiba's eyes went huge, and he had to stifle a nervous giggle. A glance at Jun showed that strong-featured face was extremely fierce with slitted eyes and lips pressed so firmly together that the skin around them was white. Aiba held his breath and felt his hope of getting to know this stranger teeter on the brink of destruction.

Then Jun exhaled audibly. He stood on the rung of his stool to reach across the bar and whap the bartender on the head. "Toma. You're drunk. Leave before I make things unpleasant, _huh_?"

The bartender chuckled and tipped from side to side. "Tonight's my last night. People been buying me drinks... wanna buy me a drink?" He waggled his eyebrows at Jun.

"You can be assured that I'm not interested. Go away."

"Um," Aiba put in. "I'd like a drink."

Jun went very tense again, like he'd forgotten that Aiba was there, that he'd been outed to Aiba only a minute before.

Toma grinned affably. "What can I get you, handsome sir?"

Aiba grinned back. "Something fruity'll do it. Maybe something blue!"

With a knowledgeable nod, the bartender set off back to the other side of the club.

His leaving only made it more awkward between Aiba and Jun. Aiba was worried that Jun was going to bolt at any second. Would it be weird to say that he liked guys, too? Was it better just to pretend not to have heard? Maybe he should pretend the bartender had been making a joke... but Aiba was very fond of his own sexuality and didn't like it when other people made jokes about it. He wasn't about to make a joke of Jun's, whatever it specifically was.

Casting about for a way forward with Jun, he spotted an abandoned drink in the counter-space between his empty beer glass and Jun's tumbler. He drew it toward himself and ignored how Jun's hand moved as if to stop him. He had to do this quickly before Jun's anxiety got too strong for him to stay.

Aiba looked over and found Tabe-chan with her arms slung around two burly guys in flannel, all three of them belting out the words to whatever song was pounding through the speakers. When he focused on it, Aiba realized it was Matsu Takako's version of _Let It Go_ remixed into a dance song, which distracted him for a second with wanting to take a video to save this moment of Tabe forever.

But Jun was now openly reaching for the drink someone had left behind, as if he wanted to put it back in its place before making a run for it. Aiba moved it closer to his side and dipped two fingers into it.

Jun's arm froze in its motion. Aiba used his dry hand to gently move it out of the way so he had a wide area of the bar to work with.

"Now, allow me to make a diagram," he said, trying for grandness and hopefully at least hitting dignity.

He could feel Jun watching with confusion as he took the two fingers that were wet with the unknown person's drink and made a blob of liquid on the counter.

He pointed to it with his damp fingers. "This is guys. Umm... in general. Now!" He took his index finger and splashed it around in the drink. From the smell, he thought it was something involving apples.

He used the apple-smelling beverage to draw a large shape around the original blob. He'd been trying to make it a heart, but he started to go dry only halfway through and had to hastily cut across to link up with the start.

"Aiba-san," Jun choked out, but Aiba pushed forward in the hope of explaining so that Jun could understand why he didn't need to be scared about being out to him.

"This heart-circle-thing, Jun-san, contains all of the people I'm into. You know..." He groped for a classy way to put it, and finally just repeated, "You know, _into._ "

"But--" Jun started.

Aiba lifted a hand to stop him. For the first time since the bartender had left, he met Jun's eyes, willing Jun not to be uncomfortable with him. "So you see? No matter if you have boys for toys, Jun-san!" He pointed at the blob again, though he kept his gaze steadily on Jun. "I'm right here with you."

It seemed like Jun didn't breathe for long seconds, and Aiba found himself holding his breath in worry as well. Then Jun reached out, sadly not toward Aiba. It was unclear what he was doing until he held his hand out to Aiba, a hand that proved to be holding a napkin.

Aiba took it, smiling foolishly at this sign of acceptance, and that was when Jun said dryly, "Aiba-san, that was my drink."

Not about to be fooled, Aiba shook his head wisely. "No, no, that one's your drink! You've been drinking from it this whole time, I've seen you."

Jun rolled his eyes. "That one's _also_ my drink. Yuririn gave it to me because she said I looked edible tonight."

Sighing sadly at the fact that the quirky bartender hadn't seen fit to compliment him that way, Aiba registered that, in fact, he really had just put his fingers into Jun's drink.

"Um?" he said apologetically. He wasn't sure what the protocol was for such a terrible moment. He seized on, "I'm very sorry, Jun-san!" Then he decided to sweeten it a little, and said truthfully, "You do look extremely attractive tonight; Yuririn was right."

Jun smirked, looking entirely comfortable in his skin again. Aiba wanted to hug him in happiness but managed to hold it in. "She knows that my--" his mouth twisted, but he quoted accurately, "'heart-circle-thing' is like this." He reached over, pleasing Aiba by moving into his space, and traced his finger around the blob that stood for guys. He scrupulously avoided actually touching the wasted drink.

Aiba felt like everything was going right again, way more right even than his tentative hope earlier when he'd tried to buy Jun a drink. That reminded him: "Can I buy you a drink to replace the one I ruined? Or you can have mine, when it comes. If you like fruity blue things, that is..." He looked down at Jun's drink, which looked like whiskey or some other such classy thing.

"I'm good," Jun said, but he looked into Aiba's eyes and smiled warmly. Aiba's chest felt like there might be flowers blooming inside. Then he worried momentarily that Jun not wanting another drink meant he'd be leaving soon, but Jun continued, "After all, I need to keep my wits about me if we're going to watch out for Tabe-chan."

 _We._ The flowers became fireworks.

Aiba nodded very seriously. "That's very important, you're right." That was the moment, of course, when Toma brought over Aiba's frivolous drink.

Jun looked at it with mockery in his eyes, but he let the reprimand go in favor of glaring up at Toma and saying sternly, "Now scat."

The bartender scampered away, though he laughed like he wasn't afraid at all.

Aiba checked on Mikako, who had shed all of her suitors and was slumped down with the side of her face pressed against the table. "Uh oh. Maybe we should go over there." He started to stand, but Jun grabbed his arm.

"Let's give her a moment. I think that with her, she needs to really hit bottom before she'll realize it's all better from here."

Aiba sat down slowly and kept his eyes on her. "He was an asshole, right? Did you ever meet him? How do you know Tabe-chan, anyway?"

Jun's hand slid down Aiba's arm slowly until it was resting on Aiba's bare wrist. "Can you think of any more questions? Maybe I can answer them all at once so we can move on to other things."

Aiba's mind went blank right as he wanted to make a smooth reply. Jun's hand moved down even further to rest ever so lightly over Aiba's own.

Aiba thought of a question and couldn't resist blurting it out. "Do you want to come home with me?"

Then he thought of Nino and wondered if he was home already. He tried not to bring people home too often, especially considering Nino always seemed to keep his relationships outside their shared apartment, but he really, really wanted to be with Jun and couldn't quite bring himself to be so bold as to invite his way home with him.

Jun's hand squeezed over his. He tilted his head thoughtfully, looking deep into Aiba's eyes, then looked over at Tabe-chan. "Let's give her half an hour."

Aiba grinned hopefully. "And then you'll come home with me?"

Jun removed his hand and used it to nudge Aiba's new drink toward him meaningfully. "No." He let that rest in the air for a moment, then added, "But it gives you half an hour to convince me I will in the future."

Aiba considered this. He looked at Mikako, who had her arms spread wide as if to embrace her new life of loving only the table. He looked at Jun, whose eyes were dark and inviting. He looked at his drink. It was so beautifully blue.

He took a sip of it and smiled happily at Jun. "That sounds wonderful."

*

Having safely deposited Tabe-chan in her bed, placed some painkillers and a glass of water on her bedside table, and typed a message to himself on her phone so all she'd have to do in an emergency was press send, Aiba found the hardest part of his friendship caretaking was getting her to let him leave.

He'd felt so fond of her as he looked down at the small figure in the bed with the disgruntled face showing above her covers. Her red cheeks and general groggy crankiness had him leaning down and pressing a goodnight kiss to her forehead. At this, her lethargy turned into clinging. She got her arms around his neck, making soft, entreating noises, and pulled down hard. Her sweet, if demanding, nothings had him smiling even as he extricated himself with as much kindness as possible. He knew very well the loneliness she was feeling and trying to forget with him.

"I'm under strict orders," he said, struggling to unlock the surprisingly strong grip of her hands. "You told me to make sure you went to bed alone, Tabe-chan. Tabe-chan! Dream about me, how about that?"

She considered this with narrowed eyes, looking out of it but like she was trying to think through her suspicions.

He rested his hands atop hers on his neck, giving up forcing her to let go, and said coaxingly, "And if I'm any good, we can try this again another time, minus the booze, okay?"

The cross wrinkle between her eyebrows smoothed away as she lifted them with a curious, affectionate look.

Aiba tapped her hands gently. "Is it a deal?"

Mikako let go and flopped back on the bed, waving both hands at him in clear dismissal before letting them drop.

He took that as his cue to leave.

Walking home from Tabe-chan's place, Aiba tried to think of any important information he'd left out in his earlier reports to Nino. Aiba, Mikako, and Jun had shared a taxi from the club, but Jun's stop had been first, leaving Aiba with Mikako asleep with her head in his lap. With no one to talk to and a million new feelings in his chest, he'd turned to his phone, and to Nino.

He'd sent at least twenty texts about Jun and their hour or so together, but he felt like he'd forgotten something important.

Cutting through an alley behind a soba place close to both his apartment and Tabe-chan's, he ticked through the most important things on his fingers.

He'd told Nino about Jun's job as a record producer for a medium-sized label where Tabe, apparently, worked her second job as a sound tech. He'd also sent that Jun had once wanted to be an idol, and how Aiba thought that he, as Jun's fan, would have bought every one of his CDs, DVDs, and photobooks, and especially the last one because it seemed highly likely that Jun the idol would have taken off at least _some_ of his clothing. That he had a sister... that he'd grown up in Toshima... that he didn't have any pets but wanted one, if he could find an animal who'd like him.

Suddenly Aiba thought of another essential thing. He texted Nino, " _He held my hand three times, though he was kind of stealthy about the first two._ "

Nino, who'd been responding to each message with increasing boredom and brevity (the last one had just garnered an _uh huh_ ), didn't reply, but Aiba didn't pester him about it.

He was almost home, and for all Nino's uninterested texts, Aiba would bet money that Nino was waiting up for him.

*

Not only was Nino waiting up for him, he wasn't even playing a video game. From the looks of it, he had been, but he'd been paused so the long the screen on the television had gone to sleep.

Nino was sitting on the couch and staring into the distance, his hands shuffling a deck of cards over and over.

Aiba, who'd been planning to shout (as quietly as he could manage due to the late hour and neighbors) about his new romantic person, instead sneaked up behind Nino and gave him a jab on the shoulder in the hopes of surprising him.

Nino let him, but said immediately, "You know I could hear the door open and close, as well as the sound of your clodhopping feet on your way over here."

"Clodhopping?" Aiba said, drawing himself up, but there were more pressing matters to discuss. "Did you get my texts? Did you hear about Jun-san? He's _wonderful_."

"Aiba-chan, I responded to your hundreds of texts, you know I got them."

"Maybe you didn't read them," Aiba said obstinately. "And you just guessed at how to respond--besides, you didn't reply to the last one!"

Nino looked up and met Aiba's eyes, his hands never stopping their smooth motion with his cards. "Ooh, Aiba-chan, he held your hand! I am positively shivering with delight."

His monotone voice only made Aiba laugh. "Well, I am delighted, for real! I know you're happy for me, too, you big liar."

"Well, sit down or whatever," Nino said. "If I have to listen to you, I might as well not have to hurt my neck looking up."

Aiba collapsed onto the sofa beside Nino, drumming his feet on the floor in joy. "Nino, Jun-san is--"

"Neighbors."

Aiba stilled his legs guiltily and whispered, "He's wonderful."

"You said that." Nino slid a look over at Aiba. "Married, you think?"

"What?!"

"With kids. And probably a con artist, too. Or an undercover reporter--tell me, anything big happening at the zoo lately?"

Aiba gaped at him.

Nino stopped his shuffling a moment to hold an imaginary microphone at Aiba's chin. "What _are_ your thoughts on the recent smuggling of illegal birds within rhinoceros nostrils?"

"We don't even have a rhino--hey! Stop distracting me!"

"I would never," Nino said calmly, resuming his shuffling.

Aiba eyed him suspiciously. Then he leaned back and kicked his feet in the air (which made no noise at all but was remarkably satisfying).

"Just wait until you meet him, Nino-chan! He's--"

"Wait, let me guess," Nino interrupted. He handed his cards to Aiba, who nearly tipped over before settling his feet back on the floor with an accidental thump.

Nino leaped up and pointed at Aiba with the index fingers of both hands. He then used those fingers to cover his eyebrows--making new eyebrows?--and assumed a macho expression. His feet were spread apart a bit and he thrust out his chest as he said, "Hark, I am Matsujun! Behold my strapping shoulders and flowing locks. All shall love me and despair."

Processing this, Aiba said distractedly, "I thought you were in the bathroom during that part of the movie..."

Nino held the pose and waited.

Finally Aiba's thoughts clicked into place. "Hey! How do you know Matsujun!"

Nino grinned at him and held out his hand for his cards. "He's a regular customer, dumbass. Every Monday and Thursday morning between eight and eight thirty, there he is. He even--well, we talk sometimes, if you must know. He's not nearly as boring as you're making him out to be."

"I said he was wonderful!" Aiba protested. "Why haven't you told me about him before?"

Nino said robotically, "Hello, Aiba-san, I have an important news bulletin. There is a customer. He comes in a lot. Sometimes, we use words."

"You're the worst," Aiba whined. "I could have known him for ages by now. We could have already kissed! We could already be in love."

"Ughhh," Nino whined back, "I can only take so much. I'm off to take a shower."

"Thanks for the important news bulletin, Ninomiya-san."

Nino sniffed disdainfully before leaving the room. Right as he disappeared, Aiba's phone chimed.

TO: AIBA MASAKI  
FROM: MATSUMOTO JUN  
 _It was interesting meeting you again, Aiba-san. Your second impression was certainly better than your first._

Aiba grinned foolishly at this serious, but encouraging message.

Before he could tap out a reply, though, another message appeared from Jun.

TO: AIBA MASAKI  
FROM: MATSUMOTO JUN  
 _Though to be honest, I'd already decided after the first impression that I wanted to know you better. Tonight just makes me even more determined. May I take you to dinner tomorrow night, my treat?_

Aiba stared at this message and remembered how reserved Jun had been in the convenience store earlier and tried to reconcile that with Jun already wanting to get to know him better. It was something Jun didn't need to admit, and the fact that he did, that he purposefully made himself vulnerable to make Aiba feel good, had Aiba's heart beating so fast he thought Nino could surely hear it from the bathroom.

He quickly replied before Jun could write any more wonderful messages that Aiba couldn't live up to, as much as the feeling was there.

TO: MATSUMOTO JUN  
FROM: AIBA MASAKI  
 _Yes, and yes, and yes._

Then he thought that his meaning probably wasn't clear enough, so he hurriedly sent another.

TO: MATSUMOTO JUN  
FROM: AIBA MASAKI  
 _Yes to everything, even things you haven't asked me yet. Just so you know, I'm going to say yes to you all the time!!_

He was pleased with himself after this, sure Jun would know his interest was reciprocated. Unfortunately, Jun didn't respond instantly, and Aiba started to fret about what he'd said. After a minute or two, he tried to fix it.

TO: MATSUMOTO JUN  
FROM: AIBA MASAKI  
 _Except if you ask questions where the answer would preferably be no! Like... am I making you uncomfortable?_

After pushing send, Aiba tossed his phone to the other end of the couch and covered his face with both hands, trying not to vibrate out of his skin. It had only been one day! They hadn't even been on a date yet!

Even so, when his phone chimed Aiba dove for it, ending up on his belly for a split second before rolling right off the couch. He lay there on his back, holding the phone up above his face, and tapped frantically to get Jun's reply.

TO: AIBA MASAKI  
FROM: MATSUMOTO JUN  
 _Yes._

Aiba wasn't sure what to make of this. His first reaction was confusion, but then he thought: was Jun answering his question? Aiba was making Jun uncomfortable and ruining everything--another message popped up.

TO: AIBA MASAKI  
FROM: MATSUMOTO JUN  
 _... That was a joke._

Aiba cheered, though he slapped a hand over his mouth halfway through because he was pretty sure it was past 3am and a few of his neighbors had already complained a couple times that his laugh could be heard a whole floor away. He was trying to decide whether to pretend he'd known it was a joke or not, and leaning toward not, to answer Jun's honesty with his own, when there was a noise from behind the couch.

He popped up to his feet, feeling his blue drink slosh around a bit inside him, and found Nino standing there in a towel.

"Is that him?" Nino asked casually. He was holding his towel abnormally high, probably to make Aiba laugh.

"Nino-chan, are you cold? Or do you have a complex about your ribs? As your friend, let me just say--"

"Do you have any free time right now?" Nino interrupted.

Aiba's mouth was still open. He wasn't sure if sound was coming out or if that was just in his head as he tried to process the first time either of them had ever asked for sex while already home and ready to do it right then. There was usually a buffer, and neither of them was usually naked except for their towel.

On cue, Nino tossed the towel away with a flourish.

Aiba couldn't do anything but stare.

"Don't you need to respond, first?" Nino said, no malice in his voice.

At first, Aiba thought he meant to his own question, as if the answer weren't obvious. Then he remembered Jun. He was still holding his phone, still working on a reply.

"Yes," Aiba said to whatever question Nino had actually been asking. He typed as quickly as he could.

TO: MATSUMOTO JUN  
FROM: AIBA MASAKI  
 _That's a relief!! Bed now, but dinner tomorrow, right? I can't wait, Jun-san._

He dropped the phone safely on a cushion and prepared to vault over the couch to get to Nino.

Nino promptly held up a hand. "Go wash that club off first, you heathen. I'll be waiting." With that, he turned and sauntered down the hall, completely naked and with more confidence than should even fit in his rather small body.

After standing there admiring the view in a stupor, Aiba nearly twisted an ankle in his rush to the bathroom.

*

"I have so many regrets," Mikako groaned.

"About last night, or in general?" Aiba asked cheerfully. The night before Nino hadn't wedged in any conversation about a future lady paramour while in his bed, and this night he got to have dinner with an intriguing, handsome, and considerate man. Still, he perched on the bench next to Mikako and offered her his shoulder.

She wrinkled her nose at it. "I have a distinct memory of licking a table. Aiba-chan, why would you let me lick a table; that's my question right now."

"You were too far away for me to stop you! Plus, Jun-san was making the most amazing face when he saw you, and then he started muttering about disinfectant and--"

Tabe sniffed. "You could have thrown something."

"Across the club?" Aiba asked, diverted, but Nino came in before Aiba could ascertain just what Tabe-chan had wanted thrown at her last night.

"Aiba-san, there's a delivery."

Nino's face was smooth, giving no hint of what Aiba should expect.

"I thought our next truck came this afternoon," Aiba said. He stood up and hastily shrugged into his vest.

"Just get out here to receive it so the delivery boy will go away," Nino said, turning his back on the room and walking out.

Aiba emerged into the store, wondering if he needed to call his boss, Becky, in to deal with delivery people who screwed up their schedule.

He was trying to remember Becky's policy about being called at home in the morning when he got his first clear view of the door and saw Jun.

He was holding a bouquet of flowers and looking only slightly uncomfortable. Aiba, dazed, thought it seemed like his discomfort was only that the surroundings didn't match his earnest feelings, not that he was embarrassed to be showing his earnest feelings to Aiba.

He'd brought Aiba flowers.

"Jun-san," Aiba breathed.

"We weren't expecting any deliveries today," Nino said pleasantly, which was not only rude but entirely untrue. Aiba didn't spare him a glance.

Instead he walked hesitantly toward Jun, asking, "Sunflowers?"

"Mostly," Jun said, looking embarrassed for the first time. "I asked for sunflowers and whatever looked good with them. I did write down the specific flowers she used, if you want to know?" He started moving to get something out of his bag, but Aiba stilled his hand with his own.

"Thank you, Jun-san."

At Aiba's heartfelt words, Jun went calm again, almost imperious in his composure. "I wanted to confirm our date for tonight, Aiba-san. May I pick you up here?"

"Oh, no, I only work until two. And this vest is not the most romantic..."

Jun's lips tugged up on one side. "Somehow it suits you, though. If you can make that look good, I'd love to see what you do to a suit."

His eyes met Aiba's and locked on with a spark Aiba could almost feel.

"You're blocking the door," Nino said politely. He hesitated, then said with obvious reluctance, "Perhaps... if you need a bit more time, Aiba-san, you could take him in the back?"

Aiba guffawed at the accidental innuendo, then flushed at the thought of doing that with _Jun_ , then laughed again because he just couldn't help it.

"Take him in the back!" he repeated, pointing at Nino.

Jun and Nino met gazes and seemed united in how little impressed they were with Aiba's sense of humor.

"Thank you," Jun said to Nino. "I'd like to get these in some water even if this guy laughs like an idiot the whole time."

He grabbed Aiba's hand and walked with him back in the direction from which Aiba had come. Aiba, forgetting what he was laughing about (though he retained the flash of heat from imagining Jun in his bed), followed with a smile. He wondered if Jun's sheer presence made it seem natural for him to lead the way in Aiba's own place of work.

After warmly greeting Mikako in the break room, Jun got the flowers into a vase, and Aiba got himself into a sneezing fit by sniffing them too much, and then Aiba tugged Jun to the stockroom for a little privacy.

He shut the door behind them, not bothering with the lights, and turned to find Jun very close.

"Jun-san," Aiba whispered, grinning in the dark.

"I've changed my mind," Jun said, voice low. "I like the way Matsujun sounds when you're the one saying it."

"Oh." Aiba considered this while he trailed his hands up Jun's arms to rest on his shoulders. Then he said softly, "Matsujun," and Jun kissed him.

Jun's mouth was warm and gentle, and for a moment Aiba was so happy that all he could do was smile. Jun pulled back, clearly uncertain, but he took in the look on Aiba's face and relaxed, leaning in again to press his lips back where Aiba, personally, felt they belonged.

They kissed for a long, sweet moment before Aiba could focus on the sensations instead of the emotions, just enough to remember that he'd really like to be kissing back. Their press of lips turned open and wanting, and Aiba dizzily worked his hands up from Jun's strong shoulders to twine his fingers in Jun's hair. It was just as soft as it looked, and Aiba made a small noise that Jun immediately took as an invitation to deepen the kiss further.

Then Jun's hands came up, framing Aiba's face, careful even as the kiss got sharper, slicker.

He leaned back and smiled at Aiba, whose eyes went automatically to the wet pout of his lower lip. "I take it you still want to have dinner tonight, then?"

"You can have anything you want tonight," Aiba said hoarsely. He dragged his gaze back up to Jun's eyes and grinned at the eager look there. Then Jun's gaze cooled, though Aiba sensed it was a cooling not of Jun's feelings, but of his immediate need to get Aiba naked. The affection apparent in the press of Jun's fingers on Aiba's jaw made any possible impatience disappear, because sex was only one of a million things Aiba wanted to do with Jun, if Jun wanted it too.

"Text me your address and I'll pick you up," Jun said, stepping back and letting go. "How does six sound to you?"

"Good," Aiba said, still grinning. "If you mean six more kisses before I let you leave."

Jun's eyes narrowed, but then he stepped forward, a little clumsy in the dimness, and found Aiba's mouth again. After a few seconds, he said, "You get one."

"Counting from now?" He pulled Jun in one more time. This time he got Jun pressed back against the door, and by the time they were done Jun was clutching at Aiba's ridiculous vest.

"Enough," Jun said at last. He looked at Aiba, the shadows making his face seem even more intense. "Enough for now."

"Bye, Matsujun," Aiba said breathlessly. "See you at six."

"Don't forget to text me your address, Aiba-san." Jun straightened his shoulders and glided out of the room, leaving Aiba smiling foolishly behind him.

*

It was only later that Aiba realized that Jun had been openly romantic with another man in front of Nino, which made him quite curious after Jun's cautious behavior of the night before. Before his first date with Jun, Aiba questioned Nino, but only got out of him what he'd gotten out before.

"We talk sometimes," Nino said, scribbling down some notes in one of his books for writing songs. "Don't be nosy."

Aiba planned not to let it go, but then his dinner with Jun was so lovely, and then after dinner there was making out in an alley, and Aiba knew enough of Jun already to know that his consenting to linger in a dirty street was sign that he was really, really into Aiba. Jun's comfort level with Nino was forgotten completely.

The dates starting piling up, one after another, with the first real check coming when Aiba started to feel they were getting serious enough that he needed to let Jun know that he wasn't looking to be monogamous. Of course, there was always the chance that Jun wasn't either, and Aiba went in with an open mind, but something about Jun's demeanor when they were together hinted that he wanted Aiba to be his, and only his.

Aiba thought that sounded wonderful, if only it left space for him to have whatever he had with Nino.

It seemed like he and Nino had free time together even more often with Aiba seriously dating Jun, like neither of them wanted the other to think it was something that was going to peter out naturally. It became rare for Nino to discuss the women he was considering dating, though often enough that Aiba always flinched in expectation after his trip to the bathroom to clean up. Once, Nino even fell asleep after sex, using Aiba's shoulder as a pillow, and Aiba lay there for unbearable, glorious minutes before forcing himself to wriggle out and do his usual bathroom routine. By the time Aiba was back, Nino was awake, and he subjected Aiba to a story about a mutual groping between himself and a pretty regular at his favorite record store.

What he and Nino had wasn't perfect, not by any stretch of Aiba's fertile imagination. But he wanted to keep it, _had_ to keep it, and so he picked a time when he and Jun were cuddling on Jun's couch and told him that he really wanted to keep seeing Jun, was probably half in love with him, even, but it was important to him that he have the freedom to sleep with other people if he was careful to use protection.

Jun was calm at first, clearly trying to comprehend, but he didn't pretend like he was completely all right with it. Part of Aiba was pleased by Jun's reaction, which made him feel guilty. He didn't want Jun to feel jealous, he knew that for sure, but the way Jun was dismayed was obviously for the specific reason that he was deeply serious about his relationship with Aiba.

Aiba was deeply serious about his relationship with Jun, too, more so every time he saw Jun's face subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) light up when he saw him, but he sensed Jun might be a person who felt a serious relationship should be entirely exclusive.

It was funny to be so serious about Jun when they hadn't even really slept together yet, but Jun wanted to take it slow, and Aiba was willing to wait. Everything they did together, from playing baseball to kissing, rushed handjobs in the convenience store's employee bathroom to watching variety shows while tangled up on Jun's couch, was almost startlingly satisfying to Aiba. He was pretty sure the first time he got Jun in his bed, or vice versa, was coming soon. He wasn't too worried about it.

Of course, he was working off his sexual frustration with Nino, but he didn't think the two feelings were connected. He thought his satisfaction with Jun was whole all on its own. It did sometimes make him wonder about his satisfaction with Nino.

It had been nearly two months since their first kiss when Aiba brought up the monogamy issue for Jun to consider. They talked about it for a while, though Aiba found himself being vague about his situation through some sort of protective feeling for Nino. Jun got increasingly tense and finally moved away from Aiba, though only a few feet on the couch. It felt very far to Aiba, who focused on breathing. He'd been so sure that losing his extra relationship with Nino would break his heart that he hadn't considered that losing Jun would do the same.

Finally Jun said, "I need a little time."

Aiba tried to smile bravely. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"No!" Jun said immediately, scooting over to lay his hand over Aiba's. "No, I'm sorry, I phrased that poorly."

Aiba held in a sniffle but gave up the smile. Jun seemed relieved by that, making Aiba think his attempt had failed completely.

"Let's have lunch in a few days," Jun said and drew his hand back. "I don't do my best thinking when you're around."

There was a pause while Aiba tried not to beg Jun to let him stay the night, let him _prove_ to Jun just how much he wanted to be with him. He was aware it wasn't the most healthy impulse, but surely if he could just make Jun understand that he--

Jun turned to Aiba with clear resolve and said, "Probably because I'm more than half in love with you."

"Matsujun, kiss me," Aiba said involuntarily, and nearly cried with relief when Jun kissed him at once.

It was brief but tender, and Aiba left Jun's place that night with the hope that maybe it would all work out after all.

*


	2. Result

Walking to work that night to cover a shift for Kiko, who had a modeling audition unexpectedly, Aiba found himself thinking about something entirely different. Or maybe it was related, since both things had to do with Jun, but he'd thought he'd be obsessing over Jun's time to think, and instead he found himself thinking about his future and what he might do with it.

Jun had offered him a job not two weeks into their relationship, saying something blunt, complimentary, and a little rude about Aiba's potential being wasted in a convenience store. Aiba had explained that his current job let him also volunteer at the zoo, which was very important to him, and that he loved his coworkers and his boss, too, even if it was sometimes weird to have a boss who was younger than him and dressed like a beautiful, colorblind butterfly.

Aiba had turned down the job for those reasons as well as not finding himself drawn to working for a record label. Still, now he found himself thinking back to it.

Maybe it was because of the feeling that his relationship with Jun and whatever he had with Nino on top of their friendship would actually be all right. It had him looking forward, thinking about change, and while he walked Aiba saw the convenience store a few blocks ahead and admitted to himself that it might really be time to move on.

It was just so hard to move on without Nino. Aiba knew for a fact that Nino was talented musically, and to leave their current job before Nino did seemed wrong, even if that didn't make sense logically.

But Aiba could be decisive when inspiration came, and the feeling that it was time to find a new job was so strong that he was tempted to give notice the very next day. Only the suspicion that both Nino and Jun would say that he needed a new job first had him grudgingly waiting, though he whispered his plan to Tabe-chan during their next morning shift.

She'd seemed to bounce back from her breakup and brief bender to attack life with more cheerfulness than before. She talked more, hung out with Aiba and Nino more, even had a dinner party for all the workers at the convenience store, including Becky. But sometimes Aiba caught her looking lonely, like she wasn't sure where she fit in her own life anymore.

When she heard that Aiba was going to quit, Mikako's face didn't change.

"I guess you can just do that, huh," she said calmly.

"Yeah," Aiba said, and something in her face had him adding, "and you could, too."

"No, it works too perfectly with my other job. I plan to stay here until I get promoted there and get more hours."

"I'm sure you will," Aiba said, nudging her shoulder with his. They were on their knees stocking bags of rice on a bottom shelf, and Mikako looked sideways at him and smiled a bit, mostly with her eyes.

Aiba wasn't surprised that he momentarily wanted to kiss her, but he was, slightly, that he considered acting on it. Instead he grinned at her and nudged her again, and she laughed and went back to their task.

The next day, buoyed by his own rushing enthusiasm, Aiba convinced his supervisor at the zoo to turn his volunteer position into a paid, nearly full-time job. Shimura had always been soft on him, even if he rarely showed it. He said a bunch of gruff things about Aiba making himself worthwhile to the zoo if he was going to take the zoo's money, but Aiba only bowed and promised that he would.

The day after that, Aiba gave notice, getting a little teary about it when Becky actually hugged him. He planned to tell Nino when he got home, but when he opened the door he found that Nino had made a small cake and left it in the entryway where Aiba'd be sure to see it. It said _YOU DID IT_ in green frosting on a white background, and Aiba rushed into the living room and swept Nino up in his arms to hug him, not even letting him save his game.

Nino hugged him back, saying only, "I'm happy for you, Aiba-chan," before he started complaining about losing his place in the game and that Aiba had been in such a hurry he'd probably toed his shoes off right into the cake Nino had toiled all day to bake.

It seemed like things moved even more quickly after that. Jun got in touch that day, and he and Aiba had lunch the next, and it turned out, Jun said, that he couldn't give Aiba up.

Aiba shivered over his soba at the realization that Jun had _considered_ giving Aiba up, but he let his relief show only a moment before his stuffed his mouth with noodles so that Jun could change the strained atmosphere by nagging at him for talking with his mouth full.

Before they parted, Jun led Aiba around a corner of the restaurant, looking carefully to see if there were any nearby people. Once he was sure they were alone, he drew Aiba close and hugged him.

Aiba was going to say something happy, but Jun spoke first, close to Aiba's ear.

"I can't pretend I love the idea of you sleeping with other people. But I recognize that it's something you need, and I want to be with you. Do you promise..."

He trailed off, and Aiba gave him an instinctive squeeze.

"Do you promise that I'll be an important person to you, even if I'm not the only one?" Jun's voice was quiet, reluctant, like he didn't want to be saying the words at all.

Aiba squeezed him even harder. "I told you already, Matsujun. I'm always going to say yes to you."

Jun breathed carefully against Aiba's shoulder for a moment, then gave him a swift kiss before striding off toward the car. Aiba, trying not to get emotional when he could tell Jun couldn't handle much more right then, followed.

Over the next week, they fell back into their rhythm of dating, hanging out, and kissing, and then there was one memorable occasion when Jun shoved Aiba into the private bathroom of his fancy office at the record company and gave him the best blowjob Aiba had ever gotten.

Aiba invited him home again, hoping this was the right time, and then invited himself home with Jun as an alternative, having lost his scruples now that he knew--loved--Jun.

Jun stood, wiping his mouth with thoughtless, obscene grace, and considered the question. He leaned in and kissed Aiba, who enjoyed tasting himself in Jun's mouth, then helped Aiba straighten his clothes enough that they could be seen in public again.

Before they emerged from the tiny bathroom, Jun said, "How about you come over a week from Friday and I'll make you dinner? Bring a toothbrush."

Delighted, Aiba promised fervently that he would bring _three_ toothbrushes, receiving a smack on the head for his silliness. He made sure to get Jun into a long embrace before letting him go back out to work.

*

On Aiba's last day at the convenience store, Nino wasn't scheduled, and Aiba felt lonely all shift, though with an undercurrent of anxious excitement.

It took him a few hours to emerge from his own tense melancholy to realize that Mikako was being weird, too. She didn't instigate any of their time-killing games, didn't give a small but theatrical slump of her shoulders every time the store emptied out of customers, and, most worryingly, he noticed that she wasn't smiling at him.

She didn't look angry or even particularly unhappy, Aiba decided, but more like she was thinking really hard, and from the way her steady gaze lingered on him more than usual, he thought it might have something to do with him.

He sidled over to her while she mopped the floor by the back coolers, wondering if he'd make things better or worse by inquiring after her mood.

"You're really not stealthy at all," Tabe said. She didn't turn around, so Aiba moved sheepishly closer so they could see each other's faces.

"I wasn't trying to be stealthy," he lied, which would usually make her chuckle, but today she just gave him a look.

It wasn't a look he'd ever seen her give him before. Her eyes, often just slightly unfocused, were intent on him. He found himself blushing unaccountably.

"Aiba-chan," she said at last, "We're friends, right?"

"Of course," he said emphatically. He came closer to touch her shoulder for a moment, trying to be reassuring, but took his hand away when she didn't actually seem to need reassurance.

"But you're leaving, so it'll change. We were coworkers, and friends... now we'll just be friends." She looked at him directly and raised one eyebrow with a quizzical expression. "Perhaps we can be better friends after this?"

"I'd like that," Aiba said honestly.

At last, Tabe-chan smiled at him, her eyes alight. "Good. Then now's the time, while we're in transition, for me to call in my rain check."

Aiba blinked, trying to catch the reference.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You don't remember, do you. I was the one who was drunk, Aiba-chan."

He tilted his head, trying to think of the last few times he'd seen Mikako drunk. After her successful dinner party... when they went to sing karaoke... from before that, it had to be--

"Ahh!" he exclaimed, pointing at her. "The day I met Jun!"

In unimpressed imitation, she tilted her own head and waited, smiling just enough to show dimples.

"Rain check," he said, trying to sound like he remembered everything. He nodded several times because he figured that made him look smart.

Now Tabe's expression was despairing of his intelligence, and something in her displeased face reminded him.

"A rain check," he said again, looking at her even more closely. She was definitely a little pink in the cheeks, and her hands were holding onto the mop far more tightly than necessary. "Tonight?"

"After work?" she offered, trying to hold his gaze. "At my place?"

"Tabe-chan," he said fondly, getting excited about the whole prospect. "That sounds awesome."

She lifted her chin. "Go on then, get back to work." Her stern face broke into a laugh before she finished the order, and she brought a fist up to cover it.

Aiba couldn't help himself. He leaned in close and whispered, "I must have been _really_ good in that dream, huh."

She snorted out a louder laugh and waved her hands in front of her face, whether denying his claim or protesting his continued presence he didn't know.

"Yay, Tabe-chan!" he said, leaning back with a grin. "Now I have something to look forward to during work."

She went back to mopping, but he could see her face had a small smile. "Like you didn't before, on your last day working in this dump."

Aiba shrugged cheerful agreement and trotted back off to work.

*

"I got some snacks," Mikako said, breaking the uncomfortable silence as they sat at her kitchen table. She pointed wordlessly to her counter, where Aiba did indeed see snacks, all of which he recognized from their work. His former work, he guessed, though he was sentimental and would probably think of it as his store for a long time.

"I'm good," he said. "But thank you."

She had pink cheeks again and was clearly nervous. She'd seemed on edge but confident when she propositioned him, but now he didn't know which direction their evening was going to go.

He shifted, wishing he'd worn something nicer than a t-shirt and jeans, and tried not to stare at Tabe-chan in her lovely floral dress. He'd never seen her look so purposeful in her prettiness.

Finally he asked gently, "Why did you invite me over, Tabe-chan?"

She flushed deeper and looked away, but he waited patiently until she spoke.

"Aiba-chan... I haven't slept with anyone since my ex. Maybe--maybe I'm not ever going to feel comfortable with anyone else..."

"You will, Tabe-chan. Isn't it okay for it to take time?"

She set her mouth mulishly. "Well, maybe I'm not willing to wait for it to happen naturally. I already feel safe with you, and you're, ummm..."

He failed to keep a grin in as he asked, "I'm what?"

She met his eyes with mocking determination. "You're not terrible-looking. And maybe I'm a bit lo--I mean. I think I need to just get it over with so I can move on."

Aiba frowned. "Get it over with? Tabe-chan, I don't want this if you don't--"

"I do. I've thought about it sometimes, even when I was with--with him, and now feels like the right time to have this, okay?"

"Of course it's okay," Aiba said. He reached his hand across the table, and she laid hers in his. "I just want it to be as lovely as you are."

A grin tugged at her lips. "Don't get cocky, Aiba-chan. We're only doing this once."

He smiled back, but stood and came over to her, keeping her hand in his the whole time. He held it as he stepped behind her, letting their joined hands rest against one of her shoulders, and used his other hand to draw her hair to one side so he could lean down and press a kiss to the soft skin of her neck. She shivered and squeezed his hand.

He returned the squeeze, then let go. He stroked both hands down her arms, then back up, and rubbed carefully at the tense muscles of her shoulders. He kept at it, humming softly under his breath, until her rigid posture melted away, leaving her warm and soft under his hands.

"You're lovely," he said. "I meant that."

She turned her head and dropped a kiss on the back of his hand. "Do we really need the sweet words? My bedroom's that way." Despite her words, she didn't move to point.

Aiba swallowed, thinking involuntarily of Nino. "Please. Let me be sweet to you."

After a moment, she nodded, and he nosed at her hair, still resting his hands on her shoulders, until she twisted in her seat to kiss him.

She wasn't hesitant anymore. Her mouth was soft and addictive, and Aiba got a crick in his neck because he couldn't bear to move away from her to get a more comfortable position. He clapped a hand to his neck and cursed, making her laugh.

Grouchily, to make her laugh more, he said, "Then let's move to the bedroom already! I'm an old man, you know, not suited to kissing at the kitchen table."

She smiled at him, all wide-eyed innocence. "Really? Are you sure?"

Her twinkling eyes and rosy lips had him leaning down again, craning his neck to taste that smile, and then he broke away and cursed even louder at the immediate complaint of his neck.

Mikako laughed and clapped, and though Aiba's neck really did hurt, he couldn't bring himself to care one bit.

She stood and took his hand, still grinning, and pulled him off toward her bedroom.

"I like your apartment," he said inanely.

She looked back at him, deadpan. "You've seen it several times before, you know."

"Well, I still like it."

Then they were in her bedroom, and she surprised him by giving him a shove so that he tumbled down onto her bed. He laughed before seeing the serious expression on her face, then settled back on his elbows to watch her more intently.

Tabe's hands went to the front of her dress, and as Aiba watched, dazed, she began to work the tiny buttons open. He stared until she got far enough from him to see the midnight blue of her bra, then swallowed hard and forced himself to sit up.

Her eyebrows furrowed, but he kept moving, standing for half a second before sliding down to his knees in front of her.

"This feels more appropriate," he explained, looking up at her with a hint of worship in his eyes. "May I put my hands here?"

He reached out, letting them hover around her calves, and looked up to see her nod. He slid his hands around her legs and felt her shudder at the warm touch.

He stayed like that, on the floor at her feet, and watched as she unbuttoned the rest of her dress. When she'd undone the last button, she straightened and let it slide off her shoulders to fall to the carpet.

The softness of her under his hands was echoed by the gentle flare of her hips, the tempting curve of her breasts, the roundness of her adorable cheeks. She was nervous again, he could tell, and he ached to touch her all over and give his appreciation to her as rediscovered confidence. He knew it didn't always work that way, but he was willing to try.

He moved his hands down to her ankles, then up to her lower thighs, then leaned in to press a kiss to one slightly knobby knee.

"Nino doesn't let you be sweet to him?" she asked softly. "Or Matsujun?"

He froze, not having known she knew about Nino at all, then sighed into the comforting curve of her hip. "It's complicated."

She surprised him again by kneeling down to meet his eyes and took his face in her hands. "Then let's keep this simple, Aiba-chan. Tonight, you be sweet to me..." She smiled and laid her forehead against his. "And I'll be sweet to you."

"Tabe-chan," Aiba said, almost choking on the relief of it all, and she pulled him down and stopped his words with a kiss.

She stood and pulled him up after her, saying sternly, "But not too slow with your sweetness, because I don't have all night."

He laughed, a little teary, and tumbled her down to the bed.

" _Ooph_ ," she complained, half-laughing herself. "Your elbow is sharp, you know."

"Sorry, sorry," he said soothingly, smiling at her. "Where can I kiss to make it better?"

She considered this, then said, "First get your clothes off, then you can kiss me wherever you'd like."

Aiba's striptease was much faster and less graceful than Mikako's, leaving him on the floor with his jeans tangled around his ankles for several seconds, but he couldn't consider it a loss when he could hear her giggling on the bed. At last he rejoined her wearing only his boxer briefs, and proceeded to kiss his way from her neck to her toes, punctuating each kiss with a whispered, "Here? Here?"

Sometimes Tabe got it together enough to say, "Yes, your elbow got me there as well," but mostly she just said, "Yes."

Aiba got sidetracked by the realization that she had ticklish ankles, but then he was kissing his way back up with more haste than before. He considered skipping her middle to give much-needed attention to her breasts, but he decided he couldn't wait any more to feel how Mikako was when he was licking her open.

He rested his chin on her thigh and looked up at her inquiringly. "May I take these off?" he asked, tapping a finger on the matching blue of her underwear.

"I don't think you elbowed me there," she teased.

"Would you like me to," he said gravely, then snickered as she laughed.

"Yes, you can take those off," she said, lifting her hips to help.

"And can I eat you out?" he asked, busily working his fingers against the bare skin of her hips so he could pull the silky blue garment down.

Her butt dropped to the bed with a surprised thump, and he looked up to see her face go bright red. Still, she said with a semblance of calm, "Yes, please."

"Hooray," Aiba whispered, as if to himself, and she swatted him lightly on the head. He got her underwear off and dropped them to the floor, then kissed his way up her thighs, using his teeth just enough that she squirmed.

"Should I take my bra off?"

He looked up from appreciating her newly bared skin to smile at her. "Do you want to?"

She was quiet for a little too long, then said, " _He_ said my chest looked bigger if I left it on."

Aiba's fingers tightened on her thighs for a second, but he kept his face calm. "May I touch you there?"

She nodded, watching him curiously, then giggled as he stuck his whole face against her breasts. His hands slid up the sides of her stomach to push from either side, squishing his face in a delightful fashion. He sat up a bit with a thoughtful face.

"Yes, that was perfect. How about with it off?"

Her face went blank, but she sat up enough that they worked her bra off together. When it joined the rest of her clothes on the floor, she lay back down and Aiba looked his fill at her completely naked.

Then, keeping his face studious, he leaned down and pressed it between her breasts again. He stroked his hands up more slowly, then squeezed in the same place as before, only this time his hands touched bare, warm skin. He stayed there for a moment, then jiggled his chin about to make her laugh again. He sat up and looked at her.

"That was perfect as well! Experiment result: there is no losing when your breasts are concerned, no losing at all."

She stared at him for a moment, then smiled. "Well, get on with it, then."

For a second he thought she meant to get back to touching her chest, and he was about to comply delightedly, but then he remembered what he'd been doing before and went hot all over.

"Your wish is my command, Tabe-chan."

He settled in between her thighs, wrapping his arms beneath them so that his hands could rest on her hips. He leaned in, nosing at her, then parted her with his tongue. He heard her gasp so he did it again, then again, then licked around the sides of her opening, getting her nice and slick, before taking his tongue from bottom to top in a slow, appreciative slide.

Pleased with her taste, her noises, and the way her thighs were trying to close around his head, Aiba held her legs open with his hands and did the whole thing again. She moaned and tangled her fingers in her hair.

At that, he kept his mouth where it'd ended up and worked one hand free so he could slip a finger into her. She was clinging and slick inside, and her hips wriggled on the bed like she liked it almost too much. He moved his finger around and flicked his tongue, then added another finger and set to in earnest, working his tongue against her in a steady rhythm while his fingers beckoned her on.

She was moving around even more now, so much that he could barely keep her hips in place with one arm, but he didn't let up, just went faster, crooking his fingers deeper, and she whimpered loudly as her hips lifted off the bed and stilled for an endless moment as she spasmed around his fingers and against his face.

In her abandon, she also managed to whack him hard on the shoulder with a flailing hand, but Aiba was so into her right then that he pushed the sting aside for her to kiss it better later.

He removed his fingers and licked at her more gently now, letting her come down but keeping her shuddering and sensitive, until finally she pushed his head away. Obliging, he kissed her thighs again, before inspiration struck and he worked his way back down to nibble at her ticklish ankles.

Finally Mikako whined, "Get up here," and Aiba scootched up the bed and kissed her mouth instead.

After dizzying minutes with her taste on both their tongues, her breasts pressed against his chest, she moved her head away and said breathlessly, "I take back what I said."

"Hmm?" he asked, caressing her hip with one attentive hand. Then her words registered as potentially concerning, so he looked back up at her face and stilled his hand.

Her face was deadpan and sweet as she said, "I think I have all night to spare after all."

She shrieked when he tickled her, then got her hands under his briefs in the melee, and then she was on top of him and discovering him with her hands. Aiba hoped the night lasted a long, long time.

*

As Aiba's last day at the convenience store was a Thursday, and his first day of paid work at the zoo wasn't until Monday, he spent the weekend trying to fill his time with friendship and fun to keep himself from getting blue over no longer working with so many people he loved. He took Mikako out for breakfast Friday morning, which worked as a natural transition from seeing each other in all manner of undress to going back to, well, not doing that.

Aiba had no regrets. He hoped that Tabe-chan didn't either, but he thought she might need to see that he wouldn't be any different around her before she could look back on their night together without a small kernel of worry. Everything had been wonderful, and she'd seemed happy from obscene acts to cuddling after, so he thought the one kernel would soon melt away.

He had no plans to treat her any differently, though he thought he loved her as a friend even more now. He couldn't help adoring the fact that he now knew how much she laughed during sex.

He also thought he was a little over-invested in her finding a _good_ boyfriend, or whatever kind of relationship she wanted, if she wanted one at all, but he knew better than to poke his nose into it. Just like he couldn't give her confidence with his appreciation, he couldn't direct her toward a good person for her to love, but he wished he could help somehow.

He spent the rest of Friday with his boyfriend. Jun was dog-sitting for his friend Toma, so he and Aiba walked in the park with Jam-chan, hands brushing often though Jun wasn't comfortable holding Aiba's hand in the daytime in such a public place. Aiba didn't mind. He wanted Jun to be comfortable more than he wanted to hold Jun's hand.

They had dinner in, but not the homemade dinner Jun was planning for the following Friday. Aiba had lots of teasing questions about what could take a whole week to prepare for dinner, but he held them in and just smiled at Jun so much that Jun got suspicious and wormed the questions out of him anyway. He then refused to answer them, but he was grinning while he ordered take-out for them both.

They made out on Jun's couch for a long time after dinner. When Aiba went home at last, he was still so wrapped up in Jun that he actually said no when Nino asked if he had any free time. Nino, characteristically, just shrugged and went back to writing his song instead.

On Saturday he hung out with Ohno and Sho. It felt like he'd known and loved Ohno forever, though not as long as Nino, of course, but he'd only known Sho for a year. They'd gotten stuck in an elevator together, and Aiba loved to tell that story to new people they met, though Sho hated it because it featured him being terrified the entire time.

They went shopping, with Ohno mostly drifting through the stores untethered to reality, then ate curry, for which Ohno rejoined them 100%. When Sho and Aiba were sweating bullets, Ohno suggesting drinks and karaoke, and Aiba ended up crying in Ohno's arms while Sho sang half-rapped versions of ending songs from his favorite childhood anime.

Aiba spent Sunday with Nino.

It was hitting Aiba pretty hard to be leaving a job where he got to work with his best friend just about every shift. Nino seemed to know it without being told, and he planned a whole day for them, though every time Aiba tried to thank him, Nino accepted his gratitude with such a profusion of sentiment that any true feeling was hidden behind it. It was enough that Nino had set it all up for him, Aiba thought. He didn't need Nino to put it into words if Nino didn't want to.

First they took the train to their hometown and ate breakfast with Aiba's family. Aiba hadn't known how much he needed to see his grandparents until they were wrapping their arms around him. There was an incident with Aiba's father and a bird, but otherwise the meal was perfect, and Nino was like one of the family. He was always an excellent chameleon when he chose to be, but Aiba thought it was more than that, given they'd practically grown up together and definitely spent more time in Aiba's home than Nino's.

After breakfast, Aiba and Nino washed all the dishes, then walked to their old high school with their mitts in hand. They tossed a baseball around for more than an hour, laughing and talking about the old days. Nino had been a loner, and Aiba, despite his exuberance, had been shy. The first year of middle school, they'd only really had each other, and then they'd joined the baseball club and found a team of friends.

Even now Aiba shied away from the topic of Nino's broken wrist that'd ended his baseball career, but Nino referred to it without rancor. Aiba thought it must've been harder for Nino to leave the team, especially with Aiba still playing, but he couldn't really imagine it. Then Aiba had quit and joined the basketball club instead, and then they'd gone on to high school and made a few good friends together, and Aiba guessed it had all worked out.

Seeing the simple happiness on Nino's face now, Aiba decided to look into a recreational baseball league near their apartment.

It began to pour in the early afternoon, so Aiba and Nino sprinted back to the train station, taking their mitts and ball with them rather than take the time to drop them back off at Aiba's parents' home. Aiba texted with Jun most of the way back to their apartment, with Nino occasionally hanging over his shoulder to give suggestions about content, phrasing, or emoji. They bickered over some of the points Nino raised, but mostly Aiba took Nino's advice. Nino was very good at knowing how to communicate exactly what one wanted to, especially when it wasn't related to himself. At the third text from Aiba that was clearly well-received, Aiba appointed Nino his life coach.

"It doesn't seem like you need one anymore," Nino said, looking out the window. "After all, you start a new job tomorrow."

Aiba leaned into him a bit. "I wish you could work there with me."

"Scooping poop all day. Joy."

"You rascal, I'll do more than that!"

Nino leaned comfortably back into Aiba. "Is your big change because of Jun-kun?"

Aiba considered this. "No... no, I don't think so. It just suddenly seemed like, well, like I need to go after the things that I want."

"A new job," Nino listed. "A ridiculously handsome boyfriend."

Aiba snorted. "Matsujun isn't a thing to go after. But he does make my life better, Nino-chan."

Nino said very quietly, almost with nonchalance, "More than me?"

"Nope," Aiba said briskly, grabbing Nino's hand. "After all, you are my best friend. Best is right there in the title! And we have a contract, you know."

"Long washed away," Nino said cynically. He twined his fingers through Aiba's and looked out the window again.

"But it's not washed away from our hearts," Aiba said, putting a throb into his voice.

"I'm going to vomit," Nino said on cue.

He didn't pull his hand away until they got off at their station.

After that, they played video games until it got dark, and then Nino ordered--and even paid for--a delivery of fried chicken. Aiba checked Nino for signs of illness before realizing Nino had indeed paid, but had used Aiba's credit card.

"You're the one with the snazzy new job," Nino said dismissively. "Actually, this is just another way to celebrate that! Good job getting a new job. Now you can buy lots of chicken."

"Do you know, that had occurred to me," Aiba said seriously. "But what should I buy you?"

Nino gestured with a chicken leg. "I'm eating this too, you know."

"I know," Aiba said, swallowing his bite. "But I mean, to thank you for today. Isn't there anything you want?"

Nino looked at him, an unreadable expression on his face. Then he smiled. "Do you know, yesterday I was thinking about that year where we were addicted to going to manga cafes? Then we were so sick of it, of course, but I think it's circled back around again."

"Oh my god, Nino, you have the best ideas! Let's go right now," Aiba said, beaming.

"Eat your chicken first," Nino scolded cheerfully. "After all, I paid your hard-earned money for that."

By the time they got home from the nearest manga cafe, it was the wee hours of the morning. Aiba had some regrets about that, having wanted to get a good night's sleep before his first day at the new job, but he couldn't really bring himself to mind.

He never _really_ forgot just how good he had it being best friends with Nino, not ever. But sometimes he needed a reminder that nothing could ever break them apart, not least because Aiba wouldn't let it.

He tried to hug Nino before bed, but Nino just gave him a shove into the wall and strolled away. Aiba chased after him to exact revenge, but Nino scampered ahead and got his bedroom door shut just in time.

As a capper to their day of friendship, Aiba and Nino spent fifteen minutes trading barbs at each other through the locked door, then at least another five laughing themselves sick over the ridiculous insults they'd come up with.

Aiba went to bed wishing he had more hours of sleep ahead of him, but the sense that his new job meant a loss of something precious was gone. He couldn't wait to start a new phase of his work life, and then he'd get to come home to his best friend.

*

As it turned out, volunteering at the zoo and working for the zoo were extremely alike, minus the paperwork Aiba had to fill out for an hour or so before he could really get to work. Shimura gave him a list of tasks, all of which Aiba had done before, and Aiba set off to complete them. The only real difference was that Shimura gave him half an hour at the end of the day to think--really think--about what he wanted to do at the zoo.

At first, Aiba thought it was silly. After all, he'd been volunteering for the zoo for years, and he'd never had to think about it before. But after a minute, he started having ideas, the kind that he used to have as a kid and had forgotten about in the intervening time of learning practical things on the job.

When he went to Shimura at the end of his shift and said that he wanted to make the animals happier, Shimura only smiled. The next day he informed Aiba that he had an hour at the end of every shift in which to come up with ways to improve the lives of their animals, provided he got through all his essential tasks first.

Aiba, full of grandiose plans, was dampened slightly when Shimura put his budget at zero to start with, but his boss framed it as an extra challenge. It only took a second of thought for Aiba to get all excited about it again. He talked Jun's ear off that night, aided by Jun's sincere questions, and then talked Nino's ear off after getting home from his date with Jun.

Nino, rather than asking sincere questions, tossed a notebook at him and told him to write it down rather than making Nino listen to it all. Aiba was about to throw the notebook back at Nino's head when he realized it was blank and new and perfect for brainstorming for the zoo.

He tackled Nino with a hug instead, then perched on Nino's back on the floor and talked to his heart's content about his day and his feelings and his ideas. Nino, face pressed into the carpet, pretended not to be listening most of the time, but his kind nature had him making encouraging noises sometimes before he could stop himself. The bored and grumpy noises came entirely naturally as well.

A couple days after that, Aiba and Nino went out with Tabe-chan. This time, Tabe was the designated driver, so Nino got drunk on two drinks and Aiba tottered about the club trying to be Tabe's wingman.

She politely rebuffed all the men he sent her way, as well as one dozy-eyed woman with a figure so lush Aiba felt faint. He bemoaned the failure of his plan to Nino in the bathroom as Nino tried to puke up his third drink. When they emerged with their arms over each other's shoulders, it was to the sight of Mikako in deep, blatantly flirty conversation with Jun's friend, the former bartender Toma.

"Aw man," Nino complained loudly. "We're going to have to pay for a cab home tonight after all."

"Shut it," Aiba hissed, slapping a hand over Nino's mouth. "Ikuta-san has the sweetest dog, and they clearly adore each other."

Nino lurched left, then right, then toppled them both onto stools at the bar. Finally he said, "What the fuck does that have to do with anything."

" _And_ he's friends with Matsujun!" Aiba said, unfazed. "He must be a good guy, Nino! I hope she takes him home and seduces him. He'd be sure to fall in love with her if she got him in bed, I'm telling you."

"Huh?"

Aiba was suddenly very glad Nino was inebriated. He was sure Mikako would prefer Nino not to know of the one off night they'd had.

He said airily, "Who wouldn't fall in love with Tabe-chan?" and ruthlessly bought Nino another drink.

Then it was Friday, the long awaited Friday, and Aiba only had to get through work before he could go home, get somewhat gussied up, and go off to be ravished by Jun.

Dinner first, he reminded himself while cleaning the lion enclosure. Jun was sure to want to observe the niceties, especially when he'd prepared the food himself. Still, it was so hard to wait when all he could think about was Jun, Jun naked, getting to touch Jun while Jun was naked, getting to be naked while Jun was naked and they were touching each other.

Luckily, though also unfortunately, the last hour of work that Friday had Aiba thoroughly distracted. It seemed impossible to implement any of his ideas without any money. He spent the time coming at it from every angle and failing to see a way forward.

It was a disheartening end to an otherwise wonderful first week. Aiba was uncharacteristically grumpy when he got home, and then Nino wasn't even there to receive his complaints.

He forgot his complaints for a time when he saw that Nino had left him something on the kitchen counter, in a gift bag and everything. Aiba recognized the bag from a previous birthday, but that was what they kept the dumb things for anyway, to reuse them, and it wasn't even his birthday now and Nino had gotten him a gift!

He opened it excitedly to find a bottle of wine (he admitted to himself that he wasn't surprised, since he had been able to see its top sticking out of the bag), a new toothbrush still in its package, and a to-go stash of the supplies from his bedside table. Nino had even been thorough enough to pick a selection of colors and flavors of condoms.

Aiba very much doubted Jun was going to fuck him while wearing a hot pink, strawberry-flavored rubber, but he was delighted by both the idea and the fact that Nino must have thought of it, too.

He showered at a leisurely pace, scrubbing himself all over and singing lustily without a thought to spare for the neighbors. He dressed in fitted blue trousers and a soft, entirely touchable sweater, not bothering with any fancy layers. He wanted to savor Jun's food and then savor Jun, and he didn't think he needed to be super stylish to be granted either wish.

When he stepped into Jun's apartment at last, it felt different. It took Aiba a while to realize that it wasn't just his anticipation, but that Jun had turned off the lights and lit candles on several available surfaces instead.

"Why, Matsujun," Aiba said quietly, not holding in his grin. "Risking a fire to get me naked. I'll get naked in any light you'd like, you know."

Jun rolled his eyes. "You've made that abundantly clear, Masaki. I hope you're hungry?"

Aiba's heart nearly stopped at the sound of Jun saying his given name, no honorifics or anything, and he only managed a small noise in response that he hoped could be taken as assent.

"Jun," he said experimentally, and shivered with delight when Jun just beckoned him into the kitchen like calling each other so intimately was entirely natural.

The table was set, the candles lit, and Aiba could smell the delicious food that was ready, or almost ready, to be wolfed down at as slow a pace Aiba could manage when wanting to get Jun into bed. He reminded himself of that patience he'd felt for literally months already, but that only made him wonder how he'd had the strength to get through it.

Jun was so attractive, so considerate, so completely in need of a thorough shagging. Aiba sat and smiled up at Jun while trying to ignore his premature boner.

Returning Aiba's gaze with a strangely obstinate look, Jun fiddled with the cuffs of his stylish striped jacket, then smoothed his hands down his chest. Aiba's eyes were caught by the familiar glint of Jun's ring, and when he looked back up to Jun's face, it had changed completely.

Aiba didn't know if Jun had given in to whatever had made him feel stubborn, or if he'd conquered it, but now Jun looked set, decided, and intent on Aiba.

"I can't wait after all," Jun said abruptly.

Aiba smiled obligingly and said, "I'm hungry, too! Is everything ready?"

Jun looked around the kitchen, then stalked around for a minute or two while dealing with practical matters to do with the food, from what Aiba could tell. He stilled for a moment when back by Aiba's side, giving Aiba a chance to hand over the wine from Nino's gift bag, but Jun took it only to set it down on the table.

"The food can wait, but I can't. I shouldn't have waited so damn long in the first place. I guess I thought it might make you..." Jun eyed him for a moment, then leaned over and blew out the candles. Aiba reached out for Jun in the dark, but the next moment he was blinded by the overhead lights coming on.

"Don't move," Jun said from the doorway. "Take off your shirt."

"Which one do you mean?" Aiba laughed, craning his neck around to get a better look at Jun. It didn't seem like he'd get an answer, so he happily tugged off his sweater and deposited it on the floor.

He could practically feel Jun's eyes all over him, but then Jun said again, "Don't move," and left the room.

After a minute, he was back.

"Matsujun, I'm so confused," Aiba said, eyes still working to adjust to the change in lighting. "Um, did I bring the wrong kind of wine? Because Nino--"

"I want to go to bed now and eat later," Jun interrupted. "I wanted to see you naked but you got me all worried about the candles, so I compromised." He hesitated a moment, then said, "I'm trying to be better at compromising, even with myself."

For a moment all Aiba could process was _bed now_ , but then he had to laugh. "You were going around to blow out the candles? Jun-chan, I'm sure it would've been all right."

"You've got me all turned around," Jun said, no bitterness in his voice. "I can't believe I had candles everywhere when I could've burned the whole apartment building down. It's against the rules for a reason."

"Bed now?" Aiba asked hopefully, and Jun said immediately, "Yes."

They didn't make it all the way to Jun's bedroom before Jun had Aiba pushed up against a wall.

They were in the hallway, Aiba was pretty sure, but he found it hard to remember trivial things like their location or his name when Jun had a thigh shoved between Aiba's legs and his tongue in Aiba's mouth.

The wallpaper was cool against Aiba's bare back as Jun kissed him and kissed him and Aiba took everything he could get in return. Jun's hands were on the wall, giving Aiba the pleasantly shivery feeling of being hemmed in by him, and Aiba dragged his hands up beneath Jun's jacket, then his shirt, and got his hands on Jun's bare skin at last. It'd been less than ten minutes since he entered Jun's apartment but it felt like he'd been waiting forever.

At last Jun muttered against Aiba's mouth, "I meant this all to be romantic."

Aiba nodded, stealing another kiss before he spoke. "Very Romance," he said in English. "I Love You."

Jun stilled. "You know what that means, right?"

Aiba said it again in Japanese. "I love you."

Growling, Jun pushed Aiba back against the wall, then strode away at high speed. When he reached the open door, he looked back and said, "Well hurry up, Masaki!"

Aiba got from the hall to Jun's bed faster than he'd ever run from the batter's box to first base. He wished briefly for Nino to be there so he could hear how Nino would laugh at his eagerness, but he knew he could never put the two pieces of his happiness together like that. Then he was back in the moment, sitting on Jun's bed, and Jun was pushing him down on the silky sheets and picking up where they'd left off.

They kissed for several minutes before Jun took off his jacket, and while he did he said, "I had a whole menu. A plan, too."

Aiba smiled, lying on the bed, and trailed his hands up his own stomach. He felt warmer, sexier, happier with the heat of Jun's eyes on his skin, Jun's kisses still echoing in the tingling of Aiba's lips.

"A plan, Masaki," Jun grumbled, standing to hang the jacket around a chair-back before starting to unbutton his shirt. "First the food. I had everything perfect. Then this--not first, not rushed, not one of us half-naked before we're even to the bedroom."

"I like being naked," Aiba laughed. "Your plan was good, it just got rearranged a bit. We can be flexible, right, Jun-chan?"

"And after I showed you--showed you everything," Jun continued, seeming not even to hear Aiba. " _Then_ I'd take you back to the table, put dessert in front of you, and..."

Aiba watched Jun discard his shirt as neatly as the jacket. He was finding it hard to follow Jun's words when he was getting to see Jun naked for the first time. Jun, unsurprisingly, was as lithe and elegant out of clothes as he was in them. Aiba crossed his fingers as discreetly as he could in hopes Jun would take off his pants.

Oblivious, Jun did, and it was all Aiba could do not to cheer.

"Well?" Jun said, and Aiba realized he had probably missed something in his absorption in Jun removing his last few articles of clothing. Jun was pointing at Aiba's legs, so Aiba, on a hunch, skinned out of his own pants, discarding his socks and underwear along with them. His clothes made an untidy pile on the floor and received a baleful look from Jun, but then Jun was looking only at Aiba.

Somehow they got to kissing again, then touching, touching all over, and Aiba rolled on top of Jun and slid his hand up Jun's hip. Despite his obvious ardor, Jun seemed a little distracted, and Aiba pulled away enough for Jun to say, "Maybe I could just add this to the beginning of the plan and leave the rest as is. Then we could be quick this time, without it changing things..."

"Matsujun," Aiba said sternly, though he wanted to laugh. "You're overthinking things. Nino would say--"

"Don't talk about Nino right now," Jun snapped, and Aiba flinched back involuntarily. There was silence for a beat too long before Jun sighed and said, "I'm sorry, that was rude. What would Nino say, Aiba-chan?"

Aiba couldn't remember what he'd planned to say but it seemed important to push through the awkward moment. "That things will come out right if you go with what feels good right now."

"I hadn't pegged him for such a hedonist," Jun said, looking amused. "That suits him somehow."

"Kiss me again," Aiba said, wishing for the simplicity of his night with Mikako. His feelings for Jun were precious, as were his feelings for Nino, but they sure as hell got in the way sometimes.

Jun complied, mouth demanding, and Aiba felt his concerns melt away with the touch of Jun's hands. They were possessive, loving, sweeping down Aiba's back, his flanks, up his sides to his shoulders. Then Jun was on top of him and reaching down, and Aiba wanted to cry out with the happiness of Jun touching him, Jun whom he loved so much. Jun's grip tightened and Aiba did cry out, then again when Jun started to stroke him. Aiba was already embarrassingly hard, but Jun stroked him as if to get the feel of him memorized. Aiba wouldn't have been surprised to find out that Jun was concentrating on the weight of Aiba's dick in his hand in order to keep it in his mind for times it was needed.

This had Aiba thinking of Jun needing to remember that, maybe because he was touching _himself_ and thinking about Aiba.

"God, Jun," Aiba said, stroking clumsily down to reciprocate with a shaking hand. Suddenly he was in Jun's shoes, wanting to keep that first touch in his memory forever. He'd touched Jun's dick once before, during that glorious interlude in the convenience store's employee bathroom, but it was different, amazingly different, to touch Jun while they were in a bed, naked, and with time stretching out for them to learn each other by heart.

Still, Aiba thought, that first touch had been excellent as well. "I should put up a plaque in that bathroom," he mumbled.

Jun's hand stilled a moment, then resumed. "I don't even want to know. Nothing good can come from hearing what you mean by that, I'm sure."

"Really?" Aiba asked mischievously. He edged out from under Jun and flipped them again, then moved down the bed and blew warmly over Jun's cock. "You don't think anything good is coming?"

"When you put it like that," Jun said, and he took himself in hand like he was offering his dick to Aiba's mouth.

Aiba was pleased to accept, wrapping his lips around the head and sucking gently. He mostly just wanted to taste Jun with that first touch, but Jun moaned, moaned _already_ , and Aiba was delighted by it.

He flicked his tongue under the head, then slid down as far as he could go, even more delighted when he couldn't take it all. He'd always loved a challenge, after all, and besides, it gave him a thrill to try, and fail, and try again, all to the soundtrack of Jun's helpless noises.

Jun's dick was covered with Aiba's spit by the time Aiba gave up and wrapped a hand around him to take what he couldn't get with his mouth. Jun's hands were clutching at the sheets, probably because he was too considerate to hold onto Aiba's hair, at least without asking first.

Aiba reached out and brought Jun's hands in and placed them on his head himself. "Show me how to please you," he said coaxingly.

Jun groaned and clutched at Aiba's hair, and Aiba slid his mouth back down Jun's cock and let himself be used. Jun wasn't any too gentle now that he'd gotten permission, but Aiba wanted it. He loved the feeling that Jun was letting go with him, letting himself take what he wanted, though of course it helped that it was just what Aiba wanted too.

Aiba's jaw was aching and he'd had to take several breaks to use his hand alone by the time Jun gave a stuttered warning, and at that Aiba pushed himself and did his very best to take Jun all the way in to the back of his throat.

He choked almost immediately, and then Jun was coming, and Aiba choked again on the warm fluid too far back for him to spit it out or even swallow it properly. Jun wasn't holding onto his head anymore, luckily, so Aiba pulled off and worked Jun in his fist until Jun had stopped shaking under him.

Aiba wasn't surprised when Jun's first words after coming were, "Are you okay?" but still, it warmed his heart.

"I misjudged the timing a bit," he admitted. "And, um, my own capacity."

"I didn't mean to hurt you," Jun said, touching his fingers gently to Aiba's swollen mouth.

Aiba grinned. "Everything was wonderful, Jun-chan, right until the part where I bit off more than I could chew. Not literally, of course, since--"

"Stop there," Jun said sternly. His face softened, then, and he was still touching Aiba's face. "And let me take care of you."

Aiba surrendered himself willingly, and Jun had him face down on the bed, one of Jun's fingers working its way inside his ass, within two minutes. He'd asked some questions first, about how it made Aiba feel to be fingered and whether it was all right to do it without a condom, but once he'd confirmed what Aiba wanted, Jun didn't hesitate.

His finger felt bigger than Aiba had expected, all warm and slick and unrelenting. He'd clearly warmed the lube up before letting it touch Aiba, and Aiba wriggled happily and felt very cared for. After a few minutes of rediscovering just how much he _did_ like doing this, how he'd missed doing it frequently during the years of topping Nino despite the occasional fix from other people, he told Jun he could take another finger.

"I know that you can," Jun said. "I'll give it to you soon."

Aiba might have grumbled to have it put off if he hadn't been so pleased by how Jun's words felt like praise.

Jun was slow and careful, and so thorough that Aiba got impatient. One finger was nice, but it was mostly because he loved the idea of Jun inside him, and the intimacy involved. Jun wasn't particularly going for his sweet spot, and a finger definitely wasn't enough for Aiba to get that weird, awesome full feeling.

Just as Aiba was considering begging, Jun finally pulled out.

"Turn over, Aiba-chan." Jun's voice was caressing, and Aiba complied with a shudder of pleasure.

Jun arranged his legs with knees up and to the sides, then pressed back into Aiba's ass with two fingers. Aiba stifled a cry at the difference in size just by adding another finger, then moaned for real when Jun took Aiba's dick in his other hand and got his mouth around it.

For someone who'd taken the initial step so slow, Jun didn't mess around when it came to getting Aiba off. He fucked Aiba with his fingers as he sucked Aiba off, and Aiba jerked between the two sensations as they combined to spread out along what felt like every nerve ending in his body. He could hear himself making noise, but it sounded like it was coming from far away. It was like he was feeling each touch more than once, like they echoed through him without diminishing because they were stoked on by Jun's hands and mouth.

Aiba couldn't manage a warning, but Jun pulled off at just the right moment anyway, which might have made Aiba wonder just how many people Jun had done this with before if he hadn't been too busy coming over his stomach and Jun's hand and maybe a little on the sheets.

After a minute, he managed, "Sorry for getting jizz on your nice sheets, Jun-chan."

Jun said coolly, "It's what they're there for, isn't it?" Aiba grinned, scooting happily around on the body-warmed, pleasantly dirtied sheets.

"I mean," Jun continued, "these are washable, and the mattress isn't." Aiba was underwhelmed by the pragmatism of this until Jun continued, "Maybe I'll buy a couple more sets of sheets, just so we can use the bed whenever we want without worrying."

Aiba wouldn't have ever worried, but he said only, "What a good idea! I especially like the whole part about using the bed so much you have to buy more sheets."

Jun crawled up the bed gracefully and found Aiba's mouth. It was so wonderful to be able to kiss someone he loved as much as he wanted.

"Here's the plan," Jun said at last. "Dinner. For real this time, because it's probably only barely salvageable at this point. Then dessert, and, yeah, and then I'll put my other set of sheets on the bed while these go in the washer. Or should I put these in the washer now, and then they can dry while--"

Aiba kissed him. "You do have the best plans, Jun," he whispered, and Jun grinned against his mouth before kissing him back.

*

Jun decided they were too sticky to eat his nice dinner without showering first, but he refused to shower together because, he said, the food had been left alone too long already.

"But showering together saves time," Aiba wheedled, still sprawled in Jun's bed.

Jun paused in pulling on his pants to take in the view. "I think you know that it wouldn't save time at all."

"But--"

"If we shower together, we won't make it to eating dinner," Jun said firmly. "And I'm not willing to waste so much food."

Aiba pictured Jun cooking for hours before their date, maybe thinking about Aiba all the while. He was suddenly so grateful that he had to reach up and pull Jun back into bed and kiss him thoroughly.

Jun said hoarsely, "Maybe the food'll be fine after all."

"No way," Aiba said, pushing Jun back out of the bed and following with determination. "I can't wait to taste the food you cooked, Matsujun! I bet it'll be the most delicious food I've ever tasted."

"Way to set the bar low," Jun said dryly, but his eyes were warm and appreciative all over Aiba's naked body.

Aiba stretched playfully, then giggled and ducked out of the way before Jun could grab him.

Jun showered first so that he could prepare the food while Aiba went second.

Aiba lazed around in the bed and played with his phone, jumping a bit when he got a text from Nino.

_"Plain? Red? Pink? Purple??"_

At first Aiba had no idea what Nino meant, but then he remembered the selection of condoms Nino had prepared. He laughed and typed out his reply quickly.

_"Maybe we'll use all of them tonight!"_

He was tapping out, _"Wish you were here"_ when he realized that wasn't something he was supposed to say. Instead he wrote, _"Is the purple one grape-flavored??"_

_"You'll have to let me know about that. Tell me tomorrow, okay?"_

Aiba responded with several excited emoji before indulging in a brief bounce of happiness on Jun's mattress. He didn't stand up or anything, just jounced his hips around with enthusiasm, but it was still a little embarrassing when Jun walked in and caught him.

"I can't decide if I'm turned on because you're naked and bouncing around or mortified for you for the very same reason," Jun said, toweling off his hair with another wrapped around his hips.

"Ooh, let's go with turned on," Aiba said, gaze lingering on Jun's pale skin.

"Go shower," Jun said brusquely. "I'll have dinner ready again by the time you're out."

"Hooray!"

Jun's shower was better than Aiba and Nino's, but Aiba didn't take his time. After all, Jun was waiting, and besides, Aiba's stomach had remembered he'd come here with the plan of having a meal. It was growling on and off by the time Aiba rejoined Jun, making Aiba chuckle with each loud noise, but Jun was steady and serious as he re-lit the candles on the kitchen table and went to turn off the lights.

Aiba noticed he only re-lit the candles he could keep a constant eye on, but he refrained from teasing. He was too excited about all the delicious-looking food on the table and the idea that he was getting to have a romantic dinner with Jun.

Dinner was as excellent as he'd expected, and comfortable, too, considering this, at least, was something they'd done many times before. They held hands and lingered over their meal, talking about their jobs, their friends, their families, each other.

Everything went smoothly until dessert, and even then it took Aiba a while for his excited happiness to become laced with unease. Jun brought out a sumptuous chocolate cake with a delightfully casual mention of working off the calories in bed afterward, and Aiba dug into his slice with enthusiasm. It was several bites before he noticed Jun wasn't eating his own.

"Jun-chan?" Aiba asked, mouth full, and that was when he saw the tense look on Jun's face.

"Masaki, I'd like to discuss something serious with you."

Aiba tried to swallow the sludge of cake in his mouth, but it was hard when his throat felt cold and tight. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"Quit asking me that," Jun crabbed, tension easing slightly. Aiba was relieved, though part of him was still waiting for the hammer to fall.

Jun was quiet a moment. Aiba managed to clear his mouth of cake, which was surely a good sign for whatever conversation was to come.

"Actually, it's the opposite," Jun said at last. He made eye-contact as his hand reached out again for Aiba's. "I want you to move in with me."

Aiba's first reaction was purely happy. Living with Jun sounded amazing. They could putter around the house together, share clothes, have sex all the time...

Then the logistics of it caught up with him. Moving in with Jun... meant moving out of his home with Nino.

"And if you say yes," Jun continued, expression serious. "I'd like to try it just you and me."

Now that he was catching the current of the conversation, seeing how it flowed to Jun but away from Nino, Aiba had no trouble understanding with Jun meant. He couldn't find a single word to say.

Jun, nervous and earnest and devastatingly hopeful, said quickly, "I'd be so good to you, Aiba-chan. I'd give you everything, not hold anything back--I know I didn't say it back earlier, but I love you."

"Oh Jun-chan," Aiba got out, eyes starting to sting. "I love you so much."

Jun squeezed his hand, strong features softening in anticipation of Aiba saying yes.

Aiba wanted to cry, but he thought that if he cried while he said no, something between them would break. "I can't, Jun."

Jun's hopeful face stilled, then shuttered. "Why not?" His expression was growing thunderous but his voice was incongruously gentle. "Can you even tell me why?"

"I can't stop... I can't leave--"

"Just say it," Jun snapped. "There's someone else. Does he even love you the way I do?"

Aiba jerked his hand back, stung. "Whether he does or not, I need him to be happy."

"You have to keep fucking him to be happy, even as you're dating me?"

"Don't make it something shameful," Aiba said, though he worried about that sometimes himself.

Jun laughed, an ugly sound. "I'm sorry our relationship is getting in the way of your beautiful sex life, Aiba-san."

"Please." Aiba was desperate to save the situation, keep his heart intact, and not--never--hurt Jun. "Please, can't we just--"

"Don't you dare cry."

"Jun, I love you," Aiba said stubbornly. "I won't give you up, not for anyone."

"If you won't give him up even for me, I don't see what else there is to talk about." Jun's words hurt, but as Aiba watched, his face smoothed out into something more compassionate, caring, though with an undercurrent of angry longing. "You're not happy, Aiba-chan."

"Of course I am," Aiba said, surprised. "I'm the luckiest person I know. I have the best friends, the best family--I even have a good job now. I live with my best friend... and I'm dating the man I love."

"Then maybe it's me," Jun said slowly. "Maybe I just don't have it in me."

"Jun-chan. I've never known someone with more to give than you."

Jun's mouth twisted. "I've never been very good at sharing."

"It's not sharing, it's just different," Aiba said helplessly. "I haven't dated anyone as seriously as I dated--as I _am dating_ you."

"I should be grateful to have any part of you at all," Jun muttered, as if to himself.

"But--" Aiba started, but Jun cut him off.

"But I've always wanted everything."

His words sounded final, but Aiba tried again to patch things up.

"Jun. I want everything with you, too." He meant it with all of his heart, even as he knew that what they meant by it encompassed different things.

"I need to clean up in here now," Jun said, standing and going to turn on the lights.

"Would you like me to put the sheets in the dryer," Aiba whispered, hoping desperately that it'd still be okay. "Or I could help wash up! You haven't eaten any of the cake, and we haven't even opened the wine, so if you want, I could..."

He trailed off. Jun had his back to him and was already stacking dishes in the sink.

Aiba was scared at the thought that Jun might be crying.

"You can take the wine with you, since it hasn't been opened anyway." Jun stilled, then asked abruptly, "Did you buy it yourself?"

"Matsujun, I--"

"Just take it with you." Now Jun sounded tired.

Aiba stood numbly and put the wine back into the gift bag. He swallowed hard, then reached out once more with a painful wrench in his heart at the thought that if this were rebuffed, it might actually, actually be the end--

"I'll just put my toothbrush in the bathroom for when I'm back."

As Aiba watched anxiously, Jun didn't move, didn't say anything, so Aiba said weakly, "You know. Someday."

Jun's tense shoulders slumped, and his words came out reluctantly. "That's fine. Maybe you'll need it someday, and besides, I bet it didn't cost you much."

Aiba flinched, remembering Nino had been the one to buy that too. "Will you kiss me goodnight?"

"I think you know the answer to that."

Aiba couldn't bear to leave, but Jun rasped out, "Just go, go already, I can't take it."

Aiba fled.

*


	3. (No Regrets)

He took a taxi home, not trusting himself to drive. He felt scraped raw, cried out, even though he hadn't been able to cry.

Nino met him in the entryway, clearly confused by Aiba being home when he'd crowed so much about spending the night with Jun, but Aiba just pushed past him, irrationally angry.

It wasn't Nino's fault that Aiba couldn't give up any part of what they had. It wasn't Nino's fault Aiba had to fight constantly to stop from wanting _more_ than what they had. It definitely wasn't Nino's fault that Jun was leaving Aiba.

Aiba wanted to break something. It was unfamiliar and frightening.

Nino seemed unfamiliar somehow, too. Was that concerned face really the same one Aiba had known for twenty years?

Aiba heard himself say, "I can't be around you right now."

"Aiba-chan, stay here and I'll help you. Stay here," Nino said, sounding bewildered but resolute. "You can take it out on me, just stay here."

"Take it out on you?" Aiba repeated. He turned on Nino, pushed him, crowded him against the wall.

Nino just nodded. "If you need to. If it'll make you feel better."

Something broke in Aiba, and in the flood of misery that followed, he couldn't tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing. "How could that make me feel better?" he said, voice a low, raspy wail.

Nino didn't ask what happened, just moved on to his next solution. "Then let's just go to bed now and forget everything. Here." He lifted his arms as if asking to be carried. "Take me to bed, Aiba-shi."

"I can't be around you right now," Aiba repeated, edging back toward the door. "I can't lose you both in one day."

"You'll never lose me," Nino said fiercely. "Here, we can drink this wine if you don't want to fuck, okay? Just don't leave me here without you when you're looking like that."

Aiba wanted to kiss him, wanted to forget all his rules. Aiba wanted to go back and kiss Jun until everything was okay again. He wanted to cry.

Instead, he left, and he closed the door behind him before Nino could follow him out.

*

He walked until he ended up at Ohno's place.

Ohno was sleepy and worried, but he welcomed him immediately and laid the extra futon out for him without question.

Aiba curled up on it at once, but Ohno nudged him off it with an apologetic foot.

"Shii-chan always says I need to give guests sheets if they're staying over."

Huddled on the floor, Aiba regained enough lucidity to ask, "Is she here? Tell her I'm sorry for waking her up."

"She's at a corporate retreat. But she's back on Monday!" Ohno answered, perking up at the thought.

"Then I'm sorry for waking you up," Aiba mumbled, pressing his face into the sheets and feeling like he'd be more comfortable without their clean hospitality.

"I was painting," Ohno said dreamily. He lay down beside Aiba and wrapped an arm around his shoulders from behind. "Besides, you're important."

Aiba began to cry.

Ohno, though he spoke hardly at all, got the whole story out of him, far more than Aiba would have told anyone else. Aiba turned and burrowed into Ohno as he poured it all out, and Ohno wrapped his arms around Aiba and listened to every word with patient understanding.

When Aiba's tears were drying on his cheeks and he hadn't had an outburst of confession in several minutes, Ohno said quietly, "You're in love with Nino."

Aiba said at once, "I'm in love with Matsujun."

"I never said you weren't," Ohno said comfortably.

"I can't be in love with Nino," Aiba said obstinately. "I've known him too long."

"Whether you can or can't, you are."

In a contest of mulishness, Ohno would always win, but Aiba argued for another minute or two before subsiding with a swipe of renewed tears against Ohno's warm shoulder.

"Why is this so hard?" he asked at last, scooting up to look Ohno in the eyes. "How did you figure it all out with Kanjiya-san?"

Ohno said in a monotone, "It really helped that I wasn't in love with someone else."

Aiba stared at him disbelievingly, then recognized the too-blank look on Ohno's face and dissolved into laughter. He laughed so hard that he cried again, wishing Ohno weren't right, but when he was done crying that time, he felt a little better.

"Stay with me this weekend," Ohno mumbled, clearly half-asleep already.

Aiba nodded gratefully, pressing his forehead against Ohno's, and settled in for a drained, exhausted sleep.

*

Aiba slept until noon on Saturday, getting up only to use the bathroom twice, with a bonus trip to locate and hug Ohno for much-needed comfort.

Ohno gave it wordlessly and let Aiba go back to sleep without pressing.

When Aiba finally got up, Ohno had fried rice warm on the stove and waiting for him. Aiba started eating, wondering where Ohno was, and his sorrow over Jun hit him in an unexpected wave.

"No, no," Ohno said, emerging from his bedroom with his phone in hand. "Shii-chan says you're not to think about it."

Aiba didn't question how Ohno knew what he was thinking about or what Shihori had to do with it, he just whined, "How can I think about anything else?"

Ohno held up a hand. "One. You've got food."

Aiba shoved another heap of fried rice into his mouth and nodded.

"Two," Ohno continued, "you have entertainment."

Aiba looked around the quiet kitchen. The only sound was the low sizzle of oil in the pan cooling on the burner.

Ohno held out his hand, and Aiba took it around his spoon. He grabbed the handle of the fried rice pan as Ohno tugged him through to the living room.

They sat on the couch in comfortable silence. Aiba scarfed more food while Ohno fiddled with the remote.

Closing his eyes to savor a particularly delicious bite, Aiba swayed side to side and tried to think only with his sense of taste. It wasn't enough (nothing could replace _Jun_ ), but when he opened his eyes the television was on.

Ohno was scanning backwards through whatever DVD he had in his player, humming to himself in concentration. Even though the pictures were moving backwards, Aiba could tell it was porn.

"This was Shihori-chan's idea?" he asked, goggling at the lewd images. Backwards fucking didn't actually look all that different from the regular kind, he mused.

Ohno ticked Shihori's instructions off on his fingers. "Feed him. Make him comfortable. Put on porn."

"She's very wise," Aiba said, a grin pulling at his lips.

"Ah, there we go," Ohno muttered, pushing play. The movie was at the beginning again, it seemed, and Aiba settled in to watch. Hopefully it really would distract him as much as Shihori thought.

"That was just three," Ohno said. He stretched his arms up, then rested one behind Aiba's neck on the couch, giving Aiba the cheesiest grin imaginable.

"There's a fourth thing?" Aiba laughed. He felt closer to healed just being with Ohno, even--or especially--when Ohno was exerting himself to be ridiculous.

Ohno raised his voice to a quavering falsetto that was nothing at all like Shihori's brisk tones. "'Give the poor fellow a handjob if he'll accept it."

It was only the luck of Ohno's timing that had Aiba's mouth empty and kept him from spewing fried rice all over the floor.

Somehow the first thing that did come out of his mouth was, "Did she really call me a _poor fellow_?"

His head was spinning. He knew Ohno and Shihori had some sort of semi-open relationship, but he'd never ascertained the details. Surely Shihori didn't want Ohno to...

"Jerk him off, that's what she said," Ohno said slowly. "Maybe the rest was tone?"

Aiba wanted to hear Shihori's 'poor fellow' tone, though not when it was about him.

And did he really want to accept Ohno and Shihori's offer when he was all muddled over Jun and Nino?

"She told me to do my best to make it so you weren't thinking about _anything._ " Ohno's tone was persuasive. "Doesn't that sound nice, Aiba-chan?"

"Hey," Aiba said, registering that the porn playing on the television was strangely familiar. "I know this one!"

"Yay, I thought it seemed like something you'd like," Ohno said, momentarily diverted.

"Yeah, because it's mine!" Aiba pointed at the screen accusingly. "I lent this to Sho-chan six months ago!"

"That's funny," Ohno said, eyes crinkly. "He let me borrow it last week."

"If he had it this whole time, why didn't he return--" Aiba started indignantly.

"Well, now you can take it," Ohno butted in. "Want me to jerk you off or not?"

Aiba opened and closed his mouth a few times before he could muster words. "You're sure Shihori-chan's okay with it?"

"She wanted me to film it, but I didn't think you'd be into that."

Aiba felt a rebellious tug of arousal at the thought, and that was when he decided he was going to say yes. But not to the filming, though he couldn't put into words exactly why. "Well, I might have at one point, but now it just seems--"

"Yeah," Ohno agreed peacefully. "You're pretty much taken twice over."

He leaned in and kissed Aiba softly on the lips. A sneaky smile lit his face as he whispered, "But we can get this in under the wire before it's all fixed up, Aiba-chan."

"You think it'll be fixed? I don't even know how--"

"This is not the time for thinking," Ohno said imperiously. "Please remove your pants."

As it turned out, Aiba kept his pants most of the way on, but Ohno slid in behind him on the couch, thighs comfortably around Aiba's hips, and reached around to work Aiba to hardness while they watched the movie together.

It was cozy, and Aiba had always been good with Ohno, so Aiba relaxed into it, leaning back into his friend and making pleased noises when Ohno got the grip and rhythm just right. It was like cuddling, but with an orgasm coming, and none of it required any thought at all. Aiba could've cried from the respite from thinking if he hadn't been so busy laughing and gasping and trying not to come embarrassingly soon. Ohno really had amazingly talented hands.

The porn wasn't even halfway done when Ohno had Aiba losing every shred of control, but Ohno didn't move afterward, just murmured soothing things that didn't seem to have any actual words involved. They watched the increasingly raunchy scenes for a while after that, spooned up close together on the couch. Aiba could feel that Ohno was hard, but neither made a move to do anything about it.

When the movie was almost over and the housewives were both bent over the kitchen table, whimpering and begging for harder fucking, Aiba felt himself twitch in renewed interest.

He heard a chuff of laughter from behind him. "Again?" Ohno said drowsily, and did it all over again with no lessening in enthusiasm from either side. It took a lot longer the second time, and the movie ended well before they were done, but Ohno didn't seem to be in any hurry. Aiba left himself in Ohno's care without regrets.

Later they took a shower together, giggling over silly things and washing each other's backs.

"It's almost dinnertime," Ohno said. He was using up all the hot water, but Aiba didn't feel shortchanged. Standing close to share the spray was the best part of taking a shower with someone you liked, after all.

"Would you like me to make something?" Aiba offered.

"I promised Nino you'd be home before dinner." Ohno's drowsy voice gave no hint of the betrayal implied in his words.

"You said I could stay all weekend," Aiba said, stepping back.

Ohno wrapped his arms around Aiba's middle. "You can. Nino and I break promises to each other all the time."

After thinking that through, Aiba said guiltily, "Is he worried?"

Ohno just nodded against Aiba's chest.

"I'll go home after this, then."

Ohno clung a little tighter. "No rush. And it'll be okay, Aiba-chan."

"But--"

"And if it's not... you can come back." Ohno's sweet, sleepy certainty of Aiba's welcome in his and Shihori's apartment was therapeutic, to say the least, and Aiba leaned into him and took a moment of peace before he went back into the emotional fray.

He'd moped around for a day, soaking in Ohno's healing aura, but part of him had known since waking up that day that he wasn't the sort to give up when he wanted something desperately. He wasn't sure he could have both pieces of his happiness, but he was going to try his very best.

*

He started with Nino, because he knew Nino was forever. He _wanted_ Jun to be forever, but that wasn't the same thing.

He'd fix things with Nino, then tackle the seemingly insurmountable division with Jun, and afterwards they'd all be happy somehow.

Sometimes there were perks to being foolishly optimistic, and one was keeping going when something seemed lost. Aiba was almost cheerful in his determination to try when he got back home and went quietly into his and Nino's apartment.

He wasn't trying to be stealthy (though he thought he could be if he tried, no matter what people said!), but he was hoping to assess the situation before he had to deal with Nino, who was both quick-witted and merciless when roused to anger.

Perhaps it was the voices that covered his entrance, the voices that didn't stop when the door closed, nor when he took off his shoes, nor when he tiptoed close to the living room and tried to figure out who was there with Nino.

"He's turned me down the last two times." That was Nino's voice, as familiar to Aiba as his own. "You should ask again."

"Don't be a martyr, Nino."

Aiba's heart nearly stopped. That, that low, almost arrogant tone, that was Jun.

Jun was in his apartment with Nino. Belatedly, Aiba focused on listening again, though for several seconds he could only hear his blood pumping in his veins.

"--couldn't have been clearer. Get your head out of your ass. If you make him happy, I'll be able to leave."

"Jun-kun, if you leave him because of me, I'll make you regret it." Nino's voice was calm and cold.

Aiba decided that even though he didn't know what was going on, if Nino was stooping to threats it was time to interrupt. He walked in.

"No one needs to have any regrets," he said in his best soothing-animals tone.

Jun and Nino jumped in unison, heads swiveling to look at Aiba.

Nino recovered first. "What a time to learn to be quiet," he muttered, squinting belligerently at Aiba.

"Aiba-san," Jun said awkwardly. "You're home."

"A stellar observation," Nino snarked. "Why don't you take him home with you and keep him there?"

"I'm not leaving," Aiba said, glaring at Nino.

"Neither am I," Jun said unexpectedly. He twisted his hands together in his lap, then stood up from the chair, pointing Aiba to sit on the couch by Nino. Aiba, quietly amused as usual by Jun's command of other people's spaces, sat.

"I assume I'm not needed here, then," Nino put in, but Jun and Aiba said as one, "Don't you dare." They stared at each other afterward, Jun's eyes bleak, and Aiba's chest hurt with longing.

"As it happens, I can't just let you go," Jun said.

It was the best news Aiba could think of, but Jun continued on.

"Not without some indication that you're going to be all right. Whether the two of you know it or not, you're in love with each other."

"We are not!" Nino piped up, then looked at Aiba in surprise when his voice wasn't joined by Aiba's.

Aiba didn't answer. He didn't know how to react to Jun's proclamation, but anything that kept Jun in the same room as him gave Aiba some measure of hope.

"It looks like Masaki's figured it out," Jun said, slightly bitter. "Nino, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"We're friends, Your Honor," Nino said promptly. "We've never even kissed. He loves you, so sweep him off his feet and give him his happily ever after."

Suddenly, Aiba remembered something important. "We did kiss, that one time." He couldn't believe he'd forgotten, but it'd been so painful for months on end that he must have shoved it down in order to focus on all the good parts of loving Nino.

Nino looked shifty. Jun pounced.

"What's this, Ninomiya-san?"

"Ugh, you're not really a judge," Nino groaned, not meeting anyone's eyes. "Sure, one time Aiba kissed me. It was in _middle school._ "

"Our last summer before high school," Aiba said. It was all coming back to him, and it was more bitter than sweet. "You called me a horrible name."

Jun's face went very tense. He didn't say anything, maybe regretting his attempt at matchmaking, but Aiba was surprised to find that the bitterness was fading. They'd been kids. Aiba had said many things he'd regretted in his life, and a whole bunch of them were during puberty. No part of him doubted Nino's devotion and respect, not even if there were a million slights on his intelligence and dignity.

"I got called that a lot as a kid," Nino said quietly. "Before I met Aiba-chan. When he kissed me, I panicked."

"I didn't even remember until now, Nino-chan," Aiba said, tears pricking at his eyes. "Please, let's just forget it again."

"No, I think it's important," Jun said. "If Aiba-san thought, even if only deep down, that Nino wouldn't love him the same if his love for Nino were romantic..."

Nino was looking incredibly shifty now. Aiba stared at him, a suspicion growing in his mind.

He burst out, "That's why you're always talking about women like you could never be attracted to men! Because you didn't want me to confess again?"

"Again?" Jun said, bemused.

"That one kiss," Nino said, snapping his fingers at Jun. "Keep up."

Jun growled, but Aiba wouldn't be put off. "That's awful, Nino. Don't you know how much I hated it?"

Nino was unrepentant, arms crossed across his chest, though his hands were squeezed anxiously into fists. "Nothing I could do would be awful if it's for our friendship, Aiba-chan. Don't you feel the same way?"

"That's too big to take on trust," Jun said tightly, and Aiba nodded.

Nino looked distraught, then pulled himself together with visible effort. "Fine. After Aiba-chan kissed me and I fucked everything up, he acted like nothing happened, and before the month was out he had a girlfriend."

"World-changing news," Jun murmured. "Teenagers dating."

"He dated her the entirety of high school. He said it was forever," Nino continued, scowling at Jun. "Then after graduation, they broke up. Like it was nothing."

"It sucked," Aiba said, mystified what this had to do with anything. "But we'd been talking about it a long time, and we knew we didn't want to try long distance. I was always grateful to her, even to myself, I guess, for leaving it as such a good experience instead of trying to drag it out."

"Well, I'm going to drag it out," Nino said, his voice small and flinty. "I don't care how ugly it gets."

"Ahhh," Jun said, sounding extremely pleased. "That makes a lot of sense."

Nino flung a pillow at him and looked ready to do more, but Aiba pushed him down without looking, busy asking Jun, "What do you mean?"

"He figures you can't break up with him if you never actually get together," Jun said smugly. "He's as irrational as you are."

"You're one to talk," Nino complained. "If you want him to be happy, you have to be the one to do it. Isn't it obvious--" He gestured at Aiba. "--I only screw things up."

"Ugh, Nino--" Aiba started, angry at this turn of the conversation, but Jun was louder and angrier.

"He says that he's happy, you ass. He loves you so much he's happy with _crumbs._ "

"Not without you, Jun," Aiba said softly, but no one heard him. Nino was standing as well now, shouting at Jun about making Aiba cry.

But Aiba wasn't crying.

He grabbed the back of Nino's shirt and yanked him back down to the couch, then stood and pushed Jun hard, shoving him back into his chair.

"Look," he said, trying to think clearly. A second ago he'd had a plan, but there was so much on the line that it was hard to think. "Listen for a minute."

Jun and Nino stared at Aiba.

Aiba searched for the right words, then decided to just say what came to mind, because thinking was getting them all in a horrible snarl.

"I can't be happy without either of you," he said. "And you are the two people I love most in the world." He thought about this for a moment, then qualified, "Besides my mom and my old dog, who's still the best even in doggy heaven.

"You're also the two people I trust the most. So I'm leaving my happiness up to you, okay? Figure it out, because I don't see how it can work."

Aiba had thought his words were going somewhere hopeful, but as he trailed off he realized it was really rather depressing.

"Don't let me down," he said, voice quiet. "Please."

Nino looked just about torn apart. Jun looked thoughtful.

"I've actually heard a lot about you from Aiba-chan, Nino. We have a lot to talk about."

"That's what you think," Nino muttered.

"I had made the three of us a dinner reservation, Masaki, but I think Nino and I need to have some time. Would you mind going alone, or maybe you could find someone to go with?" Jun said politely.

"I..." Aiba started, at a loss. Some part of him remembered that he'd just entrusted his happiness to these people, so he should probably not quibble at small weird things like this. "Yes? I mean, no, I don't... I guess I don't mind!" He smiled, confused. Why did Jun seem so calm?

He was probably planning on letting Aiba go for good.

Nino looked like he wanted to complain, but nobly didn't. Then his nobility disappeared in a whine as he said, "This is how invested I am in your dumb happiness, Aiba-san. I'm willing to stay here and talk absurdities with your boyfriend, okay, so just go on and stuff your face on Matsumoto-kun's tab."

Jun actually smiled at this. "I actually do have a tab there, and you're welcome to use it," he said smoothly. Nino looked grudgingly impressed and bitter about it. "But before you go, there's one thing I'll really need you to do, if you trust me."

His smoothness was gone in a flash, Aiba noticed, and instead Jun just looked scared.

It occurred to Aiba that if Jun was scared, he must still have some hope, however small, that things really would work out.

"Yes," Aiba said steadily. "I trust you."

Jun took a deep breath. "This contract you told me about, the friendship thing between you and Nino? I'm going to need to see a copy."

Nino and Aiba gaped at him.

"Copy?" they said together, and Aiba let Nino do the honors. Nino said, "There's no freaking copy; it was in the dirt! We were _ten._ "

"As a judge," Jun intoned, and Nino snorted so loudly that Aiba thought it might actually be a laugh, "that won't do at all. Paper, please, Aiba-san."

Aiba scrambled to get a piece of paper and a pencil for Jun. He was handing them over within a minute, but Jun handed the pencil back. "With that one," he whispered, jerking a finger at Nino, "I think it'll have to be a pen."

Nino looked interested in the goings-on, though also rebellious about it. Aiba got a pen and gave it to Jun.

Jun wrote their names on the paper, then spoke aloud as he continued writing.

"We, the above-named individuals, do solemnly swear to be friends forever, no matter what else we are and no matter what happens."

He looked at this, then nodded solemnly. "Sign, please."

Aiba signed, strangely excited to be giving homage to the long-ago ceremony, then handed the pen to Nino.

Nino put down his signature with zero hesitation. "Are we done now? A free dinner doesn't sound terrible to me either, even if it's bought by Aiba-shi's boyfriend."

"Oh no," Jun said. "We have lots more to discuss, but before that, I believe there's one final step to make this official." He waved the new document meaningfully.

Aiba shrugged helplessly at Nino, completely at sea, but Nino looked disbelieving in a way that suggested he knew what Jun was implying.

"You've got to be kidding."

"What was it you said, Nino," Jun said, smiling with actual warmth. "Anything, if it's for your friendship?"

Nino's gaze lightened a moment, locked on Jun's, and to Aiba it seemed like they reached some sort of strange understanding.

Aiba still understood nothing. Nino stalked off, only to return with the little sewing kit his mom had given him when he'd moved out of her house.

"He wants us to bleed on the damn thing," he said shortly, and he drew out a needle and pricked his finger without any hint of ceremony.

Aiba laughed. "Of course! Oh Jun-chan, that is very important, you're right."

Nino rolled his eyes and smeared his bloody finger under his signature. He handed the needle to Aiba, who copied him, and then Jun whisked the paper away and placed it on top of Nino's bookshelf of video games.

"All right then, Masaki, your reservation awaits. That Italian place a few blocks away, the one where we had our third date."

"Jun, is it really okay?" Aiba's heart was in his throat.

"You left your happiness up to us," Nino answered unexpectedly. "Scat so we can actually try to figure it out."

"Kiss me goodbye?" Aiba asked, but he didn't know who he was talking to.

Jun shook his head, but he looked determined rather than sad. Nino just shooed Aiba out the door with no sentiment at all.

Aiba stumbled into the elevator, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Maybe more importantly, he tried to figure out what was _about_ to happen.

He reached the ground floor with a failure on both counts, so he pulled out his phone and called Sho to see if he wanted to meet for a free meal.

Food and Sho-chan, at least, made total sense.

*

"None of that makes any sense!" Sho said, exasperated. "And why are you telling me this? Why not Oh-chan? What about your convenience store coworkers? There has got to be someone more suited to dealing with twisted gay love triangles than me!"

He ran his hands through his hair, not for the first time. He looked distinctly rumpled.

"Your chicken parmesan," the waiter intoned, the epitome of dignity.

Sho tried to recover to thank the man, but before he could, the waiter was gone.

"At least now I have food," Sho muttered wildly.

"You're so smart, Sho-chan. Can't you guess what they're talking about?"

"They're talking about you, of course," Sho said darkly. "You don't need a college degree to figure that out."

"That's good," Aiba said absently, "since I don't have one."

"Why didn't you go to college?" Sho asked, curious despite himself.

Aiba shrugged cheerfully. "I was going to be the successor to my parents' restaurant. But it turned out I wasn't suited... though it took us a while to see it, and by then I needed money so badly that I wasn't about to put off getting a job to go to college."

He could tell that Sho didn't really get it, having grown up in such an affluent, prestigious family. Rather than try to explain, Aiba returned to more important things.

"If you can't figure out what they're talking about, maybe you can figure out how we can all be happy!"

"I let myself get called away from home at the last minute because you promised free pasta," Sho complained, but he looked like he was thinking about it despite himself.

"You came because Kei-chan's home visiting her family and you were lonely," Aiba said, grinning. "You're a sucker."

Sho laughed, then pointed at Aiba's eyes and then his own. "Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't be the same way if you were married to her. I think if she ever goes to a high school reunion, all her former love-struck classmates will start a religion based on worshiping her."

"I want to be as happy as you," Aiba said wistfully. "I feel ready to be settled, if only there were a way..."

Sho stilled, eyes going round. "Oh no, I don't really want to say this, Aiba-chan."

"Oooh, ooh, tell me," Aiba said, delighted that Sho was finally playing along.

But Sho didn't smile, just looked pained and entirely serious. "Do Ninomiya-san and Matsumoto-san like each other?"

Aiba slumped. "How could they not when they're both so wonderful," he said miserably, resting his chin on his hands.

"Then there's an obvious solution."

Rather than spitting it out already, Sho took a giant bite of cheese-covered chicken. Aiba took a bite of his spaghetti, going with the flow even though his mind was straining toward any solution, let alone one that could be termed obvious.

Before he could even swallow, he exclaimed messily, "Oh, just tell me already!"

Sho looked like he wished he were talking about something else. "So you're a person who likes two people and wants to keep both of them."

Aiba nodded. That was just a statement of fact.

"Then there's an obvious solution," Sho repeated. "People have been doing it forever."

Aiba tapped a finger on his temple, trying to be very wise and informed by history. He brightened, locking onto an idea, but then he was immediately deflated.

"I see what you mean, but I don't think they'd go for it. They're both pretty independent, you know?"

"Well, then I don't know what to tell you," Sho said sympathetically.

"Though I'd really like to see Jun in those genie pants," Aiba mused aloud, closing his eyes to imagine it better.

He heard a choking noise across the table and opened his eyes with concern.

"I wish I didn't have to ask," Sho said painfully. "But what exactly do you think I just suggested to you?"

"A harem, of course," Aiba said, mystified by Sho's discontent.

"I most assuredly did not--!" Sho squeaked, face going red.

Aiba laughed, distracted by another thought. "Maybe that'd be the answer to Kei-chan's new religion! She'd be the best person to lead a harem, don't you think?"

"Don't give anyone any ideas," Sho started, then laughed despite himself. "Oh my god, she'd be amazing. People would fight to wear the genie pants for her." He looked sly all of a sudden, sly and very pleased, and Aiba wanted to inquire after his train of thought but remembered their original one instead.

"Wait, then what _did_ you mean, if not a harem?"

"Eat your spaghetti and figure it out for yourself," Sho said with dignity.

"Nope, tell me."

"Eat your spaghetti!"

"Tell me!"

"You can't make me say it," Sho said, pigheaded.

"I can and I will--wait. Wait, I have it for real this time, Sho-chan!"

Sho put his head in his hands. "I really want to believe you. If I believed you, I wouldn't have to hear you say it, but on the other hand, the last time I believed you, you honestly thought I wanted you to have a harem."

"No, no, no, I've got it this time," Aiba said, feeling very clever, not to mention elated at this (truly!) obvious solution.

Sho closed his eyes, then opened them to take another bite of pasta.

He chewed slowly, swallowed, and put down his fork with a sigh.

"I'm sorry. After harem, I'm really going to have to hear you say it."

*

"Nino-chan, Matsujun!" Aiba caroled, stomping joyously and nervously back into the apartment. "I think we should have a threeso--"

The word died on his lips as he burst into the living room and found Jun on the couch and Nino on his knees in front of him with Jun's dick in his mouth.

"Um?" Aiba said. He wondered if he should feel jealous, but instead he thought this image would be in his spank-bank for the rest of his masturbating life.

"Aiba-chan, you're back," Jun said, slightly breathless. "Did I ever mention I asked Nino out when I first met him?"

Nino's glazed eyes slid to Aiba, then closed. He looked pleased and embarrassed, like he wanted to say something sarcastic but didn't want to stop sucking Jun off long enough to do it.

"He said no," Jun said, stroking Nino's hair. "But when I saw him later by chance, we ended up almost having sex in a bathroom--"

"What is it with you and bathrooms," Aiba interjected, awed. "Wait, you almost had sex with Nino?!"

"There's just about no almost left about it, but yeah," Jun said. He looked nervous suddenly. "Nothing happened after that, and it was way before I met you, Masaki. Actually, he told me that the reason he couldn't pursue anything with me was that he was in love with someone else."

Nino pulled off, looking disgruntled. "I had no idea he'd ever meet you, but of course, you just had to fall in love with this guy."

"We've decided to try and make this work," Jun said haughtily, pushing Nino's head back down. Nino rolled his eyes, but Aiba noticed that he went willingly.

"Oh good!" Aiba said brightly. "Um, what exactly do you mean by that?"

"I'd like to live with you, if you'll have me," Jun said, a hint of shyness in his voice.

Aiba's heart sank. "Matsujun, I already told you--"

"He means here," Nino said, wiping his mouth. "With us."

"Both of us?" Aiba said slowly. "Holy crap, Sho-chan was right! Right? Right?"

"If dear Sho-chan suggested a threesome," Nino said, smirking. "Then he's right, and less of a prude than I thought. I always wondered how he kept Kei-chan satisfied--"

"It'll take some time to figure things out," Jun said severely, though his dignity was undercut by his hard-on sticking out of his pants. "Nino and I are starting almost from scratch, and neither of us are good at sharing, it turns out."

"I'm very good at sharing," Aiba promised fervently. "Oh please, please..."

Jun pulled Nino up into his lap, looking pensive. "It's actually a ridiculous plan."

"It'll probably never work," Nino said, but he didn't move from his perch. "But it's for Aiba-chan."

"For Masaki," Jun agreed, with that look he got in his eye when he was letting his whole heart show.

"This is the happiest I've ever been," Aiba said, trying desperately not to tear up. "Though I have to ask, how did that lead to blowjobs?"

Now Nino did move, though only enough to lie with his back against Jun's chest and close his eyes like he was going to sleep.

It was Jun who explained. "It seems like you got over your romantic block toward Nino, so I got you to do the contract, with blood and everything, to get Nino to quit being so afraid to try with you. Then I told him we should all be together, then I kissed him, and he said he didn't like me like that, no thank you, but he was lying. So I bet him he'd get turned on by giving me a blowjob." When his rambling ended, he seemed like he was caught between feeling pleased with himself and self-conscious.

Aiba blinked. "And that worked."

"He rubbed himself off against the couch," Jun said smugly. "He's got the stamina of a gnat."

Nino stuck out his tongue without opening his eyes.

"I don't really know how this'll go," Jun said, losing his composure suddenly.

If it'd been Aiba in his lap, he would have taken Jun's hand, but Nino didn't move. Aiba knew they really were starting from the beginning, which was sure to be uncomfortable for everyone for a while to come.

Luckily, Aiba had enough blind optimism for the three of them.

He came over and sat by Jun and Nino and took Jun's hand. "You can have my room, Matsujun. I know having your own space is important to you."

"And where will you sleep?" Nino said, slitting his eyes open.

"With you," Aiba said unhesitantly. "With both of you, either of you, wherever I'm wanted that night." He saw argument forming on both listening faces, so he steamrolled on, "Or Jun could make a schedule! Sometimes, it'll be just the two of you, too, right?" He said this last with some concern, feeling instinctively that it was important.

"It won't work if we don't work, too," Nino said, meeting Jun's eyes. "And the only way I see it working is if we go in assuming that it will."

Jun nodded, completely on the same page. "We'll need our own nights, too."

Aiba's heart clogged in his throat. "And what kind of night is tonight?"

"It's only right to start with all three of us, right?" Nino asked, nonchalant. Jun nodded again, and Aiba saw that his eyes were welling up with relieved tears. Aiba looked away, but not because it was embarrassing. Jun's happiness made him happy, too, but he figured Jun probably wasn't ready to cry in front of Nino.

"Go take a shower, then," he said to Nino, yanking him off Jun's lap. Predictably, Nino squawked and resisted, but Aiba bustled him off to the bathroom before returning to Jun's side.

"Thank you, Jun," he said, and Jun turned his head and pressed his face into Aiba's neck without a word. Aiba could tell that Jun's cheeks were wet.

"I knew you'd figure it out," Aiba said, stroking Jun's hair.

"Nino helped," Jun said, lips brushing Aiba's skin. "Though he's trying to pretend he didn't."

"I wouldn't have given you up either, you know."

"Who's up next for the bathroom?" Nino said chirpily.

Aiba's jaw dropped. "That was the fastest shower I've ever seen!" Jun straightened, wiping his face, and went to take his turn without a word.

Nino dropped down next to Aiba, wearing his towel like a normal person but looking very young and clean-scrubbed with his bare chest and rosy cheeks.

He said cheekily, "Do you have any free time in about ten minutes, Aiba-san?"

"You are the worst," Aiba groaned. "Oh wait, before I forget! I just put the pieces together, but I am pretty sure that Sho-chan is going to buy genie pants."

"While that is mildly interesting, I have no idea why you're saying this to me," Nino said, unimpressed.

"For Kei-chan," Aiba explained. "For roleplay. For sex!"

Nino's laugh broke out, loud and joyful and making Aiba laugh, too.

They were pretending to be Keiko and Sho role-playing as master and harem boy when Jun walked back in with a towel of his own.

Both Nino and Aiba went quiet, looking at Jun.

"I can see why you wanted to keep him," Nino stage-whispered.

Jun chuckled. Aiba figured Nino couldn't yet hear the self-consciousness in it, but it wasn't his place to point it out.

"I'll be fast," he promised instead, heading for the bathroom.

"We'll be waiting," Jun said, voice full of promise.

"Probably," Nino agreed, patting the couch next to him in clear invitation to Jun.

Aiba broke into a run.

*

When he returned to the living room after a hurried, soapy scrub all over, he half-expected it all to have been a dream.

Instead he came in to see Jun and Nino sitting on the couch together. Nino was telling Jun the story of how they'd met Ohno when they first moved to Tokyo, when Ohno was still working as an exotic dancer.

Jun was laughing. It was too much for Aiba to take, seeing them happy together, but in the best way--he wanted to be this overwhelmed all the time.

Still, when they turned to look at him, it almost tipped over into the bad kind of overwhelming. Nino's eyes, as always, were greedily devouring the sight of Aiba's bare skin, and Jun looked like he wanted to eat Aiba up, though he also looked like he might cry again if pushed too hard. Aiba remembered that Jun had thought they'd never get to be together like this again.

Aiba loved both of them so much his heart was full to bursting, but they didn't love each other. _Yet_ , said his optimism, but the rest of him was scared.

"Whose bedroom should we use?" he asked, trying for casual composure.

Nino's sharp eyes went to Aiba's face, prying out Aiba's secret feelings, but Jun didn't know him quite that well yet, for as much as he loved him, so he was the one who answered.

"Let's use yours, if you have clean sheets."

"My sheets are clean," Nino said, searching stare still on Aiba. "And actually, even though it seems obvious to start with all three of us, I think in a practical sense, it'd be good to start with me and you."

"Why the hell would that make sense--" Jun started, but Aiba felt something clumped up in his chest ease into more healthy excitement.

"Jun-chan, I think Nino's right," he said, a little embarrassed. "We're so off-balance right now in terms of feelings, and--and I'm worried that you two won't work together. Um, no pressure, but if you don't work together, the whole thing falls apart--"

"Hey, you're in charge of believing it works," Nino complained.

More of Aiba's anxiety cleared. "You're right, and I _do_ believe it'll work. But I want to see ... I want to watch..."

"Oh," Jun said, looking appeased by Aiba's explanation, though he still looked confused. "Well... as long as you're there, too, because I want to start this off with all three of us."

"Says the guy who's already had a blowjob today," Aiba laughed.

"He didn't finish," Jun said darkly, turning his gaze on Nino.

"I totally did finish," Nino said loftily. "I believe you mentioned already about the couch?"

Jun wrapped an arm around Nino's shoulders and pulled him in to give him a hard kiss. "But you didn't finish with me."

Aiba was shifting back to pure delight and anticipation. He dropped his towel to the floor and gave an excited cry, then charged off toward Nino's bedroom with blind faith that Jun and Nino would follow.

It took just long enough that Aiba was a bit worried when they appeared, but his incipient fear was soothed by the sight of both of them completely naked.

"Jun-kun insisted we had to hang the towels up in the bathroom," Nino said, eyes going back to Aiba's body. It could've been Aiba's eager imagination, but he thought he heard some _fondness_ in Nino's tone.

"So what are we doing exactly," Jun said, ignoring Nino.

"Aiba-chan, maybe you should draw him a diagram," Nino said and grinned at Jun.

"Would that help?" Aiba asked, perking up excitedly, but Jun shook his head. "Then I think you should do what feels good to you. I'd be happy to offer suggestions!"

Nino smiled at him, and then Jun did, too. At the sight of them naked and smiling at him, Aiba questioned his need to only watch for the first night, but then Nino and Jun turned to each other and started kissing.

Aiba thought this threesome plan was the very definition of _no regrets._ He maneuvered behind the two of them and herded them toward the bed still kissing, then shut the door and slid down it to sit and watch, trying his best not to blink and miss even a millisecond.

Jun was taking the lead on the kiss, one hand holding Nino's jaw steady as he learned what Nino liked and what made Nino melt against him.

Nino, of course, was giving as good as he got, but Aiba spared ten seconds of time not looking at the way Nino and Jun were kissing to stare with appreciation at the needy clutch of Nino's hands on Jun's hips.

It was all amazing, really, and made even more so by the fact that no one was wearing any clothes.

This made a thought pop up in Aiba's brain, and he popped up in turn to walk hurriedly around his embracing boyfriends and strip the bed of its comforter and top-sheet. After all, he didn't want anyone getting covered up and out of his view when they were going to be doing such interesting things.

"Nino likes being picked up," he said helpfully as he scooted back around toward his place by the door.

Nino's hand shot out and grabbed Aiba's wrist. "Sit on the bed, Aiba-chan. There's plenty of room."

Aiba considered this, then walked back to sit happily at the top of the mattress, leaning back against the wall. For fairness, he said, "And Jun really, really likes kissing. Lots of tongue, but not in a gross way, more like he's fucking you slowly with his mouth." He considered the turn of phrase, then insisted, "But not in a gross way!"

"He's going to talk the whole time, isn't he," Jun said, pulling back to look Nino in the eye.

"He's nervous, Jun-kun," Nino said, cutting his eyes slyly at Aiba. "It's our job to make him forget."

"I think we can handle that." Jun pried Nino's hands off his hips, then picked him up with both hands under his armpits. Nino instinctively wrapped his legs around Jun, who slid his arms around Nino's waist, and then they were kissing again.

Jun was very strong, Aiba thought appreciatively.

"Five out of five stars for the view," he said, craning his neck to take it all in. "Oooh, do you think you could fuck him like that, Matsujun?"

Jun made an impatient noise, but Aiba distinctly heard Nino whimper at the idea. Being picked up and being fucked were two of Nino's favorite sexual things.

"Another time," Jun promised, and made to drop Nino on the bed.

Nino could be a clinging little leech, so Aiba wasn't surprised when Jun's plan didn't exactly work. Instead they both tumbled down, and Jun made an undignified noise of surprise. Nino's noise was entirely pleased.

"He likes that," Aiba said happily. "Having you on top of him."

"It's just excellent having a sex narrator," Nino said breathlessly, but he reached up for Aiba to take his hand so there wasn't any sting.

Jun's mouth was too busy to talk, being preoccupied in kissing his way from Nino's mouth to his throat, then down to his chest, and Aiba got to watch Nino squirm as Jun paid teasing attention to his nipples.

"He has really sensitive sides, too," Aiba said distractedly. "And those hollows between his stomach and his hips, if you press your thumbs there his legs will open up like magic."

Jun did that, taking a break from the enjoyable torture of Nino, and chuckled when Nino growled rebelliously even as his thighs spread apart of their own volition.

"That's a handy trick," Jun said, leaning back down to press his lips to Nino's belly, which quivered at his touch.

Aiba squeezed Nino's hand, unbearably glad to be with both of them. "And Jun-chan likes having his hair pulled while he sucks your dick," he said to Nino. "He's so sadistic in other ways that you wouldn't expect that, but he does."

Jun pressed his forehead to Nino's ribs for a second, then admitted, "It lets me know you like what I'm doing to you."

"I plan to be very demonstrative about that," Nino said, petting Jun's hair. Jun looked up at him, caught between a smile and a grimace, but whatever he saw on Nino's face had it going entirely into a smile.

"Good," he said, and he took Nino's cock in hand and gave it a flick with his tongue.

"I've never gotten to do that to Nino, so I don't have any suggestions," Aiba said, but it came out less as an apology and more as anticipation.

He'd seen Jun do this twice now, but it was different, seeing it done to someone else, especially when that someone else was Nino. Those quiet, breathy sounds that Nino couldn't keep in during sex, now Aiba heard them because of what _Jun_ was doing with Nino's body.

He extricated his hand from Nino's with a reassuring noise and went for the bedside table.

A moment he later he laid condoms and a bottle of lubrication by Nino's hip. "Maybe you could finger him," he said hopefully. Jun grunted acknowledgement, mouth still enveloping Nino's dick.

Either Nino saw what Aiba'd done, or heard his words, or just wanted Jun to start doing that anyway, because he brought his heels up the bed toward his hips. His knees fell even wider apart, body tilting suggestively, and Jun pulled off to take the bottle and coat his fingers.

Aiba settled back, taking Nino's hand again, and watched.

Jun took his time, but he went slow and steady just like Aiba remembered him doing during their own night together. He pressed in with one finger and watched Nino's face, and what he saw had him looking very smug. He also looked a little like a new world was opening up to him, like he was realizing that now he got to experience a whole other person, and not just once or twice, but enough to find out what they really wanted and enjoyed.

Aiba couldn't see enough, so he moved to Nino's other side and flopped down on his stomach with his feet at the head of the bed and his head down by Jun's.

Jun made an admonishing noise as Aiba made the mattress bounce, but Nino moaned at the way Jun's finger jerked inside of him, and Jun was soon distracted.

"Are you going to use your mouth again too," Aiba whispered excitedly, resting his chin on his hands and tilting his head to enjoy the view.

"When he's ready for two fingers," Jun said implacably.

"I'm ready now," Nino complained, voice already getting thready with want.

"He probably is," Aiba agreed. "He likes it pretty quick and rough."

"Stamina of a gnat," Jun said, but he slid two fingers in Nino's ass and bent to get his mouth around Nino's cock again.

Aiba had been ignoring his own needs, enjoying the feeling of concentrating on his companions instead, but at this he had to touch himself a bit.

By the time Jun was fucking Nino with three fingers while Nino was pulling his hair demandingly, Aiba was working himself hard.

"You can come if you want, you know," Jun said, using his hand to pull on Nino's dick a while instead. "You don't have to wait on us."

"Or you could make me come, too, Jun-kun," Nino said, his breath barely enough to get the words out. "Then he'd feel more comfortable, and--"

Jun rolled his eyes and went back to his blowjob, which made Nino's words catch in his throat.

"I don't want to come yet," Aiba said mostly to himself, but his hand sped up without his permission.

Jun moved off again, making Nino whine. "Would you rather come while I'm fucking him?" he asked, moving the back of his hand over his chin to collect the spit and precome that slicked it.

"You're going to fuck him tonight?" Aiba asked, hand stilling on his cock as he processed this. It was an entirely pleasant idea, he found.

"I was hoping to," Jun said, looking up at Nino. Nino removed his face from the crook of his elbow and gave an emphatic nod.

"Awesome," Aiba breathed, starting to jerk himself off again at a much slower pace.

"How would you like us to be?" Jun asked, business-like but for the way he still had his fingers inside Nino.

Aiba considered this, getting up from the bed to look at it from several potential angles.

"Nino on his hands and knees with you behind him," he directed at last. "I'll sit here on the floor--" He sat against the wall directly in front of the foot of the bed. "--and you can face me."

Jun moved up the bed to kiss Nino while he pulled his fingers out, distracting him from the sudden emptiness while giving Aiba an excellent view. Then he arranged Nino as per Aiba's instructions with minimal assistance from Nino himself, and finally he touched his own dick for the first time.

He was hard already, probably having rubbed himself against the bed some, but he stroked himself several times, eyes intent on Nino, then Aiba beyond him, then back again to trail down Nino's back until he saw--

Well, Aiba could guess what he saw, but he couldn't see it himself anymore. The good thing was, now he could see both of their faces.

Jun rolled on a condom and slicked himself up. He wiped his dirty hand on the sheets at a discreet distance from himself and Nino, then stroked both hands down Nino's back, asking questions like whether Nino was ready, whether everything felt good, whether he needed anything before Jun started fucking him. Nino nodded or shook his head after each question, and finally Jun took himself in hand and lined up where Nino wanted him.

"Wait," Aiba said suddenly.

Jun and Nino froze.

Aiba tried to smile at them reassuringly, but for a moment he only had eyes for Nino. He crawled forward on his hands and knees and sat up just enough that his face was level with his best friend's.

He looked into Nino's eyes and said, "I love you, Nino."

Nino's eyes went wide. "Aiba-chan?"

"I love you," Aiba repeated. And then he kissed him.

Nino's mouth was unresponsive, open and shocked, but Aiba just kept his lips pressed against Nino's until Nino let out a shuddering breath and began to kiss him back.

Aiba reached around and rested his hand on Nino's back, palm up, and after a moment he felt Jun take it.

"Do you want me?" Jun asked, and it took Aiba a heart-stopping second to realize Jun was talking to Nino.

Nino nodded, busily kissing Aiba as if to make up for so many years of going without, and Aiba gave him everything he'd been storing up for just as many years.

"I'd like to hear you say it, Nino," Jun said, almost apologetically but for the certainty in his tone.

For a few seconds, Nino kept kissing Aiba, and then he broke away just long to say, "Please fuck me, Jun," before going back to Aiba's mouth.

Jun's hand clenched over Aiba's, who squeezed back in agreement. Nino begging was always glorious, though Aiba hadn't heard it nearly enough times.

When Jun pushed into Nino's ass, Aiba could feel it through Nino. He felt Nino's jaw go slack, his kissing go languid, and he definitely felt the way Nino's forehead thunked helplessly forward against Aiba's.

He couldn't feel as much from Jun, but it was enough to have Jun's hand holding his, never letting go even as he fucked into Nino faster, harder, making Nino pant into Aiba's mouth.

Aiba's free hand found his dick again, though it seemed like less of a focus and more of an addition to all the other sensations. It was so much, to be kissing Nino, so much, that Jun was holding his hand, so much, that Jun and Nino were fucking and both of them loved him.

That reminded him, and he turned his face to the side for a second and got out, "You do love me, right, Nino?"

"Oh my god," Nino groaned, or maybe it was a moan as Jun just fucked him harder. "Now?"

"It doesn't have to be now," Aiba said, a little abashed.

Nino's eyes opened and focused on Aiba's face. His face lit with the ghost of a grin. "Of course I love you."

"That's so great," Aiba said, beaming, and leaned back in to resume their kiss.

Just then Jun reached around and got his hand on Nino's dick, making Nino cry out, and Aiba swallowed the noise greedily and chased it back into Nino's mouth looking for more.

He got it, because Jun was relentless, thrusting into Nino so hard that Aiba had to rock back on his heels with the momentum of Nino's lips against his.

Aiba held onto Jun's hand, slid his tongue in Nino's gasping mouth. His own orgasm sneaked up on him, and then he was there, clutching Jun and keening helplessly into Nino, who sounded like he might be coming, too.

Aiba slumped back, letting go of both of them, and tried to catch his breath. When he opened his eyes, he saw Jun pull Nino back and into his lap, then start fucking him again.

Nino looked boneless, utterly satisfied already, but Aiba knew Nino was a greedy little shit, and he watched Nino take each pulse of Jun's hips like it wouldn't ever be too much.

At last Jun moaned, then bit Nino's shoulder enough to mark him, and as he finally stilled he opened his eyes and sought Aiba.

Aiba stood, swaying on shaky legs, and stumbled onto the bed and toward Jun. When he found Jun's mouth he nearly cried with how good it was, how wonderful it was to be kissing Jun again when he thought he'd lost him.

Nino, sated, snuggled between them like a rag doll.

Jun brushed the sweaty hair from Aiba's forehead and backed away, gaze locking onto Aiba's.

"We'll make it work," he whispered, his voice raspy with feeling.

"I know," Aiba said back, feeling himself expand into this new situation, this plan that made his happiness whole, if messy and awkward sometimes, and definitely not easy. "We'll make it work together."

Nino lolled forward into Aiba, nearly giving him a black eye, but Jun steered him to one side in time that Aiba caught him up in a hug instead.

For a second, it was just Aiba holding Nino, and then Aiba said, "Jun," and Jun wrapped his arms around both of them.

***

***

***


	4. Epilogue

***

***

* _talking on the phone_ *

"Hey Oh-chan, thanks for calling me back!"

"You called me three times, so."

"It's fixed. It's better than fixed! They're sleeping in my bed _right now_. They're not spooning or anything but their hands are touching and it's so cute I could die."

"Yay, it's fixed~ I knew it."

"You knew we'd end up in a threesome?!"

"... Not really. Just seemed like it'd work out. Ah, Shii-chan's home early!"

"Oh yay, now we can both be happy! You--hey, I never got my porn video back."

"I definitely can't bring it right now, not with Shii-chan back. Hi hi, I'm talking to Aiba-chan~"

_"HI AIBA-CHAN."_

"Hi, Kanjiya-san! Thanks for, um. Um, you know. Oh-chan, will you just give the movie back to Sho-chan? I'll get him from him next time I see him."

"I missed you, Shii-chan. You were gone a long time."

_"A week, and I'm home early, you wimp."_

"Oh-chan? Can you hear me?"

"Aiba-chan and I did what you said, Shii-chan. Over there on the couch."

_"You're so good, Satoshi. I've missed you, too, hm? Let's get you out of these clothes and back on the couch and I'll--"_

CALL ENDED.

***

* _corresponding via email_ *

From: Aiba Masaki  
To: Sakurai Sho  
Subject: Give me back my porn or else!!

Oh-chan said he gave you the housewife video back two months ago, Sho-chan. Here are your three choices, with two being revenge.

1\. Give me back my porn, you thief!  
2\. Nino and Jun-chan and I all roleplay as you in our next threeway and I tell you about it in detail afterwards and also email a written transcription of that to Kei-chan. Sho-chan threeway with Sho-chan and Sho-chan, Sho-chan. DON'T MAKE ME DO IT.  
3\. I tell Kei-chan you're not really allergic to cats.

Love,  
Masaki

From: Sakurai Sho  
To: Aiba Masaki  
Subject: I'll be buried with that DVD if you keep this up

1\. Suck it.  
2\. That first revenge sounds hilarious, but from what I know of Matsumoto-san, he wouldn't participate in it. Without Matsumoto it's just you and Nino being dumb shits like usual, which is not a threat, but reality.  
3\. I know where you live, Aiba-chan. And I know at least three things you don't want me telling your harem of boyfriends.

Regards,  
Sakurai Sho

From: Aiba Masaki  
To: Sakurai Sho  
Subject: SO YOU WANT TO BE A GANGSTER

1\. SUCK ON THIS.  
2\. I'M ON MY WAY TO YOUR HOUSE.  
3\. IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME THE DVD, I'M GOING TO RUB UNMENTIONABLE PARTS OF MY BODY ON EACH ONE OF YOUR BOOKS UNTIL YOU HAND IT OVER.

All my love,  
Masaki

From: Sakurai Sho  
To: Aiba Masaki  
Subject: I have emergency numbers in my speed-dial

The DVD is under the welcome mat. Take it and leave me in peace, you monster.

Looking forward to brunch on Sunday,  
Sakurai Sho

***

* _conducting a video call_ *

Tabe, looking anxiously into the camera: Aiba-chan?

Aiba, excited: Tabe-chan! How's Kyoto?

T: Hey, Aiba-chan. It's good. How's Tokyo?

A, happily: The same~ How do you like your new job?

T: It's a lot... but I can handle it, I think. I can always go back to work for Becky if I have to.

A: Don't be so negative, Tabe-chan! You're going to be the best associate producer the record label's ever had.

T, after laughing a moment: You really need to learn not to set such high expectations for people!

A: I absolutely will not. Look where it got me. Speaking of romance, how's Ayase-chan?

T, smiling: She's good. She still doesn't want to be exclusive, so we're getting along perfectly.

A, hushed: So what's it like to--

T: I don't want to know how you're going to end that sentence.

A, whining: But Tabe-chan, we are such old friends! If you can't tell me, you can't tell anyone.

T: I have no desire to tell anyone.

(...)

T: It's awesome enough I get to do it in the first place.

A: (wordless happiness)

T: (laughter, extra dimples)

***

* _making notes on Jun's schedule_ *

\-- Week of January 13th to January 19th --

MONDAY: Aiba+Matsumoto, Ninomiya.  
Notes  
N at recording studio until 10pm. Shows for A+M to watch already recorded.  
 _Jun-chan, I'm sorry, I think I deleted our episodes to try and record that one thing with all the puppies!!_

TUESDAY: Aiba (in Nino's room), Matsumoto+Ninomiya.  
Notes  
A's weekly new restaurant experiment with the curiosity team. M+N apartment to selves.  
 _NIGHT WHEN NINO AND MATSUJUN ABSOLUTELY DO NOT AT ALL USE THEIR TIME TO TALK ABOUT WORK_

WEDNESDAY: Aiba+Matsumoto+Ninomiya, in Nino's room.  
Notes  
We will eat dinner first this time.  
 _It's scary when he breaks character in his own schedule, Aiba-chan, but what are we to do if he wears that blue sweater again?_  
 _Shh, he'll hear you._

THURSDAY: Aiba (in Nino's room). Matsumoto. Ninomiya (in living room).  
Notes  
M's night out. N gaming. A time alone.

FRIDAY: Aiba+Ninomiya, Matsumoto.  
Notes  
A+N baseball, M joins if work permits.  
 _Nino-chan, I got some more massage oil for after our game! Go Team Storm!_  
 _Masaki, Nino: if you spill massage oil on your sheets again, I will not be the one doing the laundry._

SATURDAY: Aiba+Matsumoto+Ninomiya, in Matsumoto's room.  
Notes  
Movie night with dinner.  
 _Masaki, Nino: I'll make a casserole or something that keeps, this night. And I'll wear the blue sweater._

SUNDAY: Flexible. Sleeping arrangements TBD.  
Notes  
Hotpot with Ohno and Kanjiya, Sakurai and Kitagawa, Tabe and Ayase. Becky, Mizuhara, and Ikuta also invited.  
 _Hooray for Tabe-chan visiting from Kyoto!!_

***

***

***

***

(One year after finding a new way forward.)

***

"Jun-chan, good morning," Aiba said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Jun turned from the stove to give Aiba a kiss as he walked by to sit at the table. Aiba lingered, but Jun pushed him off, smiling, to go back to cooking breakfast.

"Morning," Nino said. If he'd come in earlier, he probably would've done something different, but without knowing it he repeated Aiba's actions completely. He walked over for his morning kiss, tried to prolong it, and got moved along briskly by Jun. Aiba laughed and pressed his face against the table sleepily.

"I think he prioritizes food over us, Nino-chan."

"How could that be," Nino said, taking a chair next to Aiba. "When we are so entirely charming."

"This food is for you, you twits," Jun said, not turning around.

"That means he prioritizes food over kissing," Nino whispered, and Aiba shook his head gravely.

For long seconds they both watched Jun, who was dressed in one-piece pajamas he managed to make stylish. They certainly weren't conventionally attractive, but something about the way the soft fabric emphasized his shoulders and hips was eternally mesmerizing to Aiba.

A glance sideways proved Nino was on exactly the same page. His chin was on the table and his eyes were glazed over as he looked at Jun.

"Hey," Aiba said suddenly, sitting up. "How come Matsujun got a kiss and not me?"

"Have you brushed your teeth?" Nino asked suspiciously, sliding his eyes to Aiba without lifting his head from the table.

"No," Aiba admitted. He heard Jun make a noise of agreement.

"Ah well," Nino said, looking back at Jun. Aiba frowned, disappointed, and tried to distract himself by watching Jun's ass in the faded yellow pajamas.

The next thing he knew, he had a lap full of Nino. He expected some sort of sarcastic remark, but he hardly had time to take a breath before Nino's mouth was on his.

Aiba sighed happily, never tiring of kissing Nino. He could kiss Jun forever, too, but it felt like having kept himself from kissing Nino for such a very long time had left him always needing more Nino kisses.

Fortunately, Nino was just as enthusiastic. He was making pleased noises in Aiba's mouth and shifting in Aiba's lap in a way that would have been very stimulating if Aiba had been all the way awake.

"Here, Kazu," Jun said, and Nino turned his face away from Aiba to look up at Jun. He saw the spoon in Jun's hand and opened his mouth obligingly, a smile in his eyes, and Jun tipped the soup into Nino's mouth.

"Needs more salt, but otherwise it's perfect," Nino said promptly, and he returned to kissing Aiba.

Aiba, however, was distracted again. "How come Nino got a taste and I didn't?"

"He has a better sense for cooking than you do," Jun said.

Nino snickered, but before Aiba could pout, Jun was back with a spoonful of soup just for him.

Aiba took it, beaming up at Jun. He nodded knowledgeably, lingering over the taste of miso, and said, "Oh yes, definitely. Definitely needs more salt!"

Jun rolled his eyes and went back to the stove, saying over his shoulder, "Nino, you know your next song is due tomorrow, right?"

"Of course I know," Nino said, curling up comfortably in Aiba's lap. "It'll be done."

Jun turned to fix him with a look. "You didn't work on it at all last night."

"I was playing baseball with Aiba-san, as you well know. Far be it from me to disregard the almighty schedule."

Jun's face went cool. "If you don't like the schedule, just say so."

Nino kissed Aiba once more, then leaned their foreheads together and said without looking at Jun, "I like the schedule, J. It keeps us from getting unbalanced without realizing it, even if it seems a bit silly sometimes."

"We're making it work," Aiba said softly, and Nino and Jun said in unison, "No crying at the table!"

"I wasn't going to cry! And besides, you're not supposed to talk about work at the table either, so there."

Nino said pleasantly, "I'll have the song turned in by tomorrow, Jun-kun, and be in to discuss it with whatever kid they give it to sometime next week."

Aiba tickled him in retaliation for rubbing Aiba's nose in the blatant rule-breaking, but regretted it almost at once when his comfortable seat with Nino turned into a tangle of limbs that all seemed mostly elbow.

"Breakfast is ready," Jun said patiently, and Nino disentangled himself to return to his own chair. Jun continued, "And I certainly don't prioritize food over kissing," and leaned down to kiss Nino so thoroughly that Aiba went lightheaded with the suddenness of his arousal.

"Me next," he said, turning his face up. "Me next, Jun."

Jun turned and took Aiba's mouth, leaving Nino tottering behind him. Then Jun pulled away as suddenly as he'd swooped down on them, saying, "Eat your breakfast."

Aiba opened his mouth to protest, hearing Nino start to do the same, but Jun added, "If we eat quickly and you two plan to shower together, there'll be some free time available before work."

"If we all shower together, we'd have _lots_ of free time together before work," Aiba suggested, digging into his fish.

"The last time we all showered together, you slipped and we all went down and Nino had a knot on his forehead for a week," Jun said severely.

"As expected of J," Nino said, grinning, "There's a reason why he's the schedule master, Aiba-chan."

"The two of us have to have extra common sense to make up for this one," Jun said, grinning back at Nino while disparaging Aiba.

Aiba couldn't care less. He was far too busy shoveling rice in his mouth and thinking about what all he wanted to squeeze into their free time before showering and heading to the zoo. He had a small budget now, and a web series he starred in with the animals in order to raise more funds, but even with that excitement waiting at work each day it was often hard to leave home.

Then he remembered that it was one of their nights with all three of them, too, and he bounced in his chair in anticipation of all the good things his day had in store for him.

"Ignorance does indeed seem to be bliss," Nino sighed provokingly.

"He's happy," Jun said, looking incongruously worried.

Aiba tried to swallow all the rice in his mouth so he could reassure Jun of whatever Jun needed, but Nino got there first.

"We're not going to fuck it up."

Aiba stared at him, then looked at Jun, who was staring at Nino like he and Nino were on the same side when it came to everything. For a second, Aiba felt insecure and left out, and then he saw the way they turned and looked at him like he meant more to them than anything in the world.

Though there'd been shaky times, he knew they were coming to value each other just as much.

He took his cup of tea and lifted it, saying, "Cheers to that," trying not to break the rule about crying at the table.

"Fuck breakfast," Jun said harshly, grabbing Aiba's free hand.

"Are the burners all off?" Nino asked, already standing up from the table.

While Jun checked with Aiba held close beside him, Nino quickly stacked all the dishes in the sink. He came up to take Aiba's other hand when he was done.

"Should we have our free time in the living room?" Aiba said with a laugh though his throat was still clogged with feelings.

Jun and Nino hauled him off that direction in wordless accord.

***


End file.
